Silver Lining
by SodapopCurtisLover94
Summary: Laurie Danning is forced to move to Tulsa. She soon discovers that she despises everything and everyone there. But could there be a silver lining? And could that silver lining just happen to be the most gorgeous boy she's ever seen, Sodapop Curtis?
1. Chapter 1

I don't own the outsiders or any characters from the book. I love the book and the characters. This is my first story on fanfic so please bear with me. Special thanks to my bestest friend for ideas and help with the writing of it. Read away! =)

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**Chapter One**

_Laurie P.O.V_

"I don't get why I have to move. It's entirely unfair." I said to my best friend, Susan as I was packing my suitcase. "I mean if I have to move why couldn't it just be somewhere around here. But no, my parents have to move to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Where is that anyways?" I was insanely ranting because I was _not _going to move just like that. "'_Oh you're cousin Bob lives there so you won't be all alone' _she said. I don't care about being alone! I care about moving and leaving all my friends, let alone my life behind!" I finished my rant with an enormous, frustrated sigh. Susan stared at me with her big green eyes.

I just couldn't stand it. Susan and I had been friends since as long as I remembered. Now I was just going to leave? I don't think so. It doesn't even make sense. What's the difference if we move after I finish high school? I mean I only have a couple years left. I just don't get what the big rush was.

"Laurie, I'm sure it won't be _that_ bad," Susan said to break the silence.

"Yes it will be. I won't know anyone except Bob, whom I haven't spoken to since I was like, 5." I replied.

"Well, think of it this way, you'll be able to get to know your cousin, and I bet he can get you some connections. He has friends…right?"

"Yes he has friends. At least, I think he does." We began to laugh.

This was it. This was our last day together. I stopped laughing almost suddenly. Tears began to overflow my blue eyes. Slowly, a single tear sneaked past and trickled down my cheek. Susan came over and gave me a hug.

"Don't forget me." I said in almost a whisper. Tears were coming down faster know.

"I could never forget my best friend." She said. I could hear the smile in her words. "I'll come visit you. I'll force my parents to let me go. Okay?"

"Yeah." I said with a sniffle. We began to laugh. This time our laughing wasn't interrupted but my idiotic thinking.

"Susan!" My mom called from downstairs. "Your mom is here to pick you up."

Susan grabbed my arm and pulled me down the stairs with her.

"Hi Mrs. Bay." I said.

"Hi, Laurie, excited about moving?"

"Not really." I said simply. I glanced at my mom and she gave me a nasty look. She knew I didn't want to move, but she want me to actually admit it to people. There was an awkward silence, until Susan's mom broke it.

"Okay, Susan I think we should go. I'm sure you have some last minute things to do." Mrs. Bay said.

"Bye Laurie." Susan said through tears.

"Bye Susan." I also said through tears. We hugged once more. And then she left. It would be the last time she walked through my door. Why was this so hard?

"Laurie, why would you say that? She asked you a simple question." My mom said once they left.

"Yeah, and I gave a simple answer. Mom you know I don't want to move, so obviously I'm not excited." I said. My mom and I hadn't been very close these last few weeks. We fought over every little thing lately.

"Go finished packing." She said sternly.

"I'm already done." I said with and attitude.

"Then go occupy yourself because I need to finish some things." She left the room and went into the kitchen. I decided to go outside and sit on the porch. We were driving to Tulsa tonight. I didn't want to know how long it would take to get there, because then I would become more nervous and the time would go slower. I was bringing my favourite book, _Gone With the Wind_ hopefully the trip wasn't going to take longer than me reading the book. Then again, I could always sleep as well.

My father came home later that night and after about an hour we left the house never to return. The drive there was pretty boring. And we did have to go on a train. It took forever to get the train moving though because they put _everything_ on board, even our car. Then getting off was just as fun, because it took them another hour to get the car off the train. I knew we were getting close now, I kept seeing signs. Tulsa, 150 miles. Tulsa, 100 miles. It was like the countdown I never wanted.

I had fallen asleep for the rest of the ride. I had no idea what time it was and I was tired so I slept. Unfortunately, it felt like I was only asleep for about five minutes because my mother was shaking me awake. I had no idea what she was saying, but I was hoping for 'It's time for a bathroom break' instead of 'We're here'. To my displeasure, it was 'We're here'.

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Apparently I had slept for longer than five minutes because when I opened my eyes I was blinded by the sunlight.

"Is Auntie June and Uncle Bill here yet?" I asked as I yawned.

"Yes, they've been here since we got here, we just didn't want to wake you." My mother replied.

"What time did we get here?"

"Around eight."

"What time is it now?"

"Noon."

That was just great. Noon, she let me sleep in until noon.

_Interesting looking town. Looks nothing like back home._ I thought to myself.

"Hey little cousin." A deep voice said from behind me. I turned around to see a tall boy with blondish hair and an ape-ish face. I figured it was Bob.

"Hey you." I replied. He reached over and gave me a little one armed hug. It was awkward, very awkward.

"How would you like a tour of the neighbourhood?" Bob asked.

"Uh…can I change first?"

"Yes…"

I walked into the house and it was pretty impressive. It had nice paint on the walls and our furniture looked nice in it.

"Your room's upstairs sweetie if you want to look in it." My dad said as he and uncle Bill were bringing in some boxes.

"Uh actually I just want to know where my suitcase is." I replied.

"It's right there on the table." He said and brought the boxes up the stairs.

I grabbed the suitcase and attempted to find the bathroom. After a thorough search I finally found it. I looked in the mirror. I was a mess. I ran a brush through my chocolate brown hair. I brushed my teeth, changed and refreshed myself. I went back outside and Bob was standing by a mustang waiting for me.

"Who'd you steal this from?" I said jokingly.

"No one. It's mine." He looked at me like I had just said the most absurd thing in the world. He went to the other side of the car and got in. "Are you coming?" he asked.

I didn't bother to answer. I just got in. We sat in silence for a little and then I just had to talk. "So where are we going?" I asked.

"I'm going to show you around town." Bob said.

"Yeah, I got that part. _Where _exactly?"

"I'm going to show you where the school is, where the hangouts are, that kind of thing."

"Right…"

Our first stop was the school, Will Rogers High. It wasn't very intriguing, after all, it was only a school, and it was almost the end of summer. In other words I didn't care about school at that moment. Next we went to the drive in. I made a note to myself to go there sometime in the summer. We also went to the movie house and some places to get good food. The rest of the places we went to were entirely pointless. It was just to get me familiar with the town. I began feeling a little bit better now that I saw a few places.

We returned back at my new house and we found my dad and Uncle Bill drinking beer on the front porch.

"How was the tour?" My dad asked.

"Good I guess." I stated.

"Oh Laurie thank goodness your home." My mom said. "I need you to help me unpack. It's been a madhouse here."

"Okay ma." I said and walked inside the house to find my aunt. "Auntie June, mom said to come help unpack. What's to do?" I asked.

"Oh, thanks hon. You can start with that box." She point to the box by the table. I started taking things out and putting them in cupboards. I began thinking of what school would be like.

_What if it's entirely different from my old school? _I thought. _What if I make a fool of myself? I'm doomed. _I was so deep into thought that I didn't even realize the box I was emptying was empty. I finally realized it when I could find no more glasses. It seemed that my mom had gotten dinner to because she just came into the kitchen to come tell me to eat.

After dinner I helped unpack again. At about ten, my aunt, uncle and Bob left. I went up stairs to find my room. My mom had already unpacked everything for me. I changed into a pair of pajama pants and an old T-shirt and went to bed. It took me awhile to fall asleep because I was worrying about school. It was only a week away. After about an hour of thinking, I finally fell asleep.

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Thank you for reading my first chapter =) Btw when it says Bob, I mean Bob Sheldon the Soc. I forgot to add in his last name, but to save confusion I'm telling you now =) Please review, I'm open to constructive criticism, just please don't be entirely mean.


	2. Chapter 2

K so this is Chapter 2 of my story. *cheers* =) Again, i do not own any of the characters from the outsiders.

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**Chapter 2**

The next week went by kind of quickly. I basically spent my week reading, watching TV and walking around the neighbourhood. I couldn't believe it was already the day before school started. I was panicking. I was dreading going to bed. Unfortunately the day passed quickly. Before I knew it, I had to go to bed.

The next morning I woke up at six to have a shower and prepare myself for the first day. I chose a nice pair of jeans and my favourite light yellow blouse. I fixed my hair and brushed my teeth. I also applied a tiny amount of make-up to my somewhat pale face. I looked at myself in the mirror. I suddenly became very self-conscious. _What if I stand out because I'm tall? _I thought. I'm not that tall, maybe 5'6, but I think of anything when I panic.

I skipped breakfast and waited outside until it was time to go. My parents allowed me to use the car that day because my dad didn't start work until the next day. I decided to leave a little earlier just incase I got lost. Surprisingly I didn't get lost. When I arrived at the school, students were already there just hanging around. I felt really out of place because so many people were looking at me.

I went into the school. It was smaller than my old school. Then again, my town was bigger too. I attempted to find my first class. When I finally found it the bell rang. It scared me half to death because I wasn't expecting it. I walked into the class. Thankfully I wasn't the first one there. Unfortunately though, they were looking at me. I hate it when people do that. I sat in the back away from the others. Soon after more people came. Announcements came on and the principle welcomed us all back to the school, and welcomed new comers.

About two minutes after the announcements ended, the teacher began to speak.

"My name is Mr. Hail." He began. "As you all know, this is grade 11 English. I would like to ask you all to stand up and walk to the sides on the classroom, I have a seating arrangement." We all stood up and he began calling names and pointing to desks.

"So-" The teacher began and was cut off.

"Sorry I'm late. Got stopped in the hall." Said a boy that just came into the class. I looked up at him, my heart stopped almost immediately. I looked around the room; apparently, the rest of the girls' hearts did the same. This boy was incredibly gorgeous. He looked like someone you would see in the movies. But I was pretty sure that this was real life, at least I hoped it was.

"Right, well you're not getting off to a good start Mr…?" Mr. Hail said.

"Curtis." The boy said.

"Well Mr. Curtis, you sit here." The teacher pointed to the desk in the back on the left. The boy walked there and sat down. "Laurie Danning." I looked up at him. "Beside Mr. Curtis." He finished and pointed to the desk beside the gorgeous boy.

_Great, I'm going get to embarrass myself on the first day. What fun. _I thought to sarcastically myself. I walked over to the desk even though I didn't really want to.

I sat down silently waiting for my nightmare to end. I could feel people's eyes burning through me. I was grateful when the teacher finally began speaking. I wasn't paying all that much attention though. All I know is that he was talking about the curriculum. I didn't care much about what was going to go on in the course until we actually did anything. I wanted to look over to at the boy beside me, but I was too nervous. I didn't want him to see me looking at him. As I was debating to myself on whether I was going to look at him or not, a text book was placed in front of me. I jumped because I wasn't expecting it.

I looked up at the teacher and he had a stern look on my face. He knew I wasn't paying attention. _Oops. _I thought to myself. _Stop thinking of looking at him, focus on school, you're here to learn. _

"Miss. Danning, are you with us?" Mr. Hail said.

"Oh, right, sorry." I said very embarrassed. I looked up to see that everyone else was on a page, where as mine was not. I glanced at the gorgeous' boy's book. I couldn't see the page. Now I had no choice but to talk to him. "What page are we on?" I asked in a very, very low whisper. _Stupid! He probably didn't even hear that. Where is my courage when I need it? _I thought to myself.

He pushed over his book to show me.

"Thanks." I said in a louder whisper.

It turns out that I did all that work for nothing. We were just going through the chapters in the text book. I used my courage of the day all for that. I was so happy when class ended. I made an enormous fool of myself in front of the most gorgeous guy I have ever seen in my life. I high-tailed it out of the class and attempted to find my next class. I had math, which was my worst subject.

Thankfully there was no gorgeous Mr. Curtis in this class, but I found myself kind of upset by that. _Make up your mind on what you think of him! _I thought to myself. I said beside this girl who seemed very preppy. It was kind of annoying really. She was really into the lesson, which was hard because we were just reviewing. I don't think she liked me very much because when we did talk, you could just tell there was something about me that she didn't like. Math class dragged on so much. By the end of class I was starving, thankfully I had third lunch. Apparently everyone else did though.

I made my way down to the cafeteria after I dropped my stuff at my locker. I was so nervous that morning that I forgot I even had a locker. When I got to the caf, it was packed. I decided I would go outside, besides it was a nice day out. Once I walked outside, I saw Bob. I didn't really want to see him; I was hoping he would just pretend he couldn't see me. Unfortunately, he saw me.

"Laurie!" He said loudly to get my attention. I decided to pretend like I couldn't hear him. "Laurie!" He called again.

_I'm not listening. _I thought to myself, wanting to say it to him. Someone grabbed my shoulder and turned me around it was Bob.

"Laurie, didn't you hear me calling you?" He asked.

"Oh, no sorry." I said innocently. _Lies, all lies. _I wanted to laugh.

"Where are you going for lunch?" He asked again. Apparently he was the king of questions.

"I dunno, anywhere but inside the caf, it's insanely packed in there." I stated my case.

He just looked at me; I guess he couldn't think of anything to say back.

"Do you wanna come to lunch with me and some friends?" He asked me after a moment of silence.

I just looked at him. There is no way he'd want to hang out with his younger cousin. "Why?" I asked.

"I'm just offering." He looked offended.

"Look Bob, I know you don't actually wanna hang out with me. Honestly I'm fine with that. I don't want you to be all nice to me just cause you think you're s'posed to."

"Is that what you think? That I'm doing this cause I'm s'posed to? It's not why I'm doing this, you don't _have _to come." He started walking away.

"Bob!" I said catching up with him. "I didn't mean it like that. I just…I don't want you to have to put up with me. Go out with your friends, I'll be fine. Trust me." I said with a smile. He looked at me nodded and walked away.

_He'll get over it. Touchy though. _

I decided I would go for a walk. I was walking along the sidewalk in my own world not even paying attention to anything around me. On my way back though, I glanced up every few minutes to see if I could find Mr. Gorgeous. I had no such luck. I went to my locker and got my stuff and made my way to drama.

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Sorry for the shortness of the chapters i'm kind of realizing how short they are, but i'm gonna work on that. Reviews pleasee.


	3. Chapter 3

Kay so this is chapter 3 of my Sodapop Curtis Story. Thanks to people reading so far, its much appreciated.

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**Chapter 3**

Drama was my favourite class so far. I talked to a really nice girl, Karen. She was really hyper and enthusiastic. I had some good laughs with her.

Finally, last period came, science class. I walked into the class and sat down at a random desk in the back. I was off in my own little world again when the bell rang. I looked up to see everyone in a desk.

"Hello everyone. Welcome to grade 11 science. I'm Mr. Calf If you would all stand at either sides of the room so I can put you in your proper seats."

We all did as Mr. Calf asked. As soon as we were all standing, he began calling names and pointing to desks. I wasn't paying much attention until I heard his name.

"Sodapop Curtis." He said pointing to a desk. I looked up immediately to see if it was the same boy in my English class. It was. My heart dropped. I wondered if I would sit beside him again.

Sodapop walked slowly to the desk. When he reached it, Mr. Calf continued calling names. I held my breath.

"Laurie Danning." My heart leapt for joy when he said my name.

This time when I walked to the desk, I walked with more confidence. I sat down beside him and waited for the class to start. I noticed that Sodapop leaned over closer to me.

"Aren't you in my English class?" He whispered to me. It sent a shiver down my spine. I contained myself from screeching. I shifted my attention to him.

"Yeah, I sit beside you in that class too." I whispered back.

"Thought so." He said with a little smile. It was an amazing smile that was for sure. I couldn't help but smile back. I turned back to face the front of the class, I noticed that the girl in front of me was looking at me with a glare.

"Can I help you?" I asked her innocently. She flipped her hair and turned around. I sat back in my chair. When I did, I noticed that Sodapop was looking at me with a cocked eyebrow, and let me tell you, it was _very_ attractive on him. "What?" I asked surprised by his expression.

"Nothing." He said with a slight laugh.

"That's bull." I joked. Soda was about to say something back but Mr. Calf decided he wanted to start the class. _Of course once I start talking to the gorgeous boy you decide you want to talk._

"Today," Mr. Calf began. "We're going to start off with a 'Get to Know Your Textbook' exercise." He began handing out textbooks with a sheet of paper. I looked over the sheet and realized that these were the stupid things we had to do at my old school. I let out a frustrated sigh and noticed it was louder than intended almost immediately. I looked to find that everyone, including my teacher, were looking at me.

"Is there a problem miss?" The science teacher asked me.

"Oh, uh no I just um, remembered I have to, uh pick something up for, uh my mom…after school." I attempted to make up a lie. I heard light laughter and wanted to tell them to stick it somewhere, but I thought it other wise. I rested my head on my hands and wished I was anywhere but there.

"You sure get along with the teachers don't ya?" Soda whispered to me.

I looked up at him and he had this crazy grin on his face. It was impossible not to smile back to this kid. I jokingly stuck my tongue out at him. He smiled and looked away.

"The rest of this class is yours to finish this sheet, if you don't finish it in class it's for homework due tomorrow." Mr. Calf said and sat at his desk for the remainder of the class.

I began working on the sheet; I avoided homework at all costs. I was halfway through the page when I got hit on the head with a crumpled paper. I looked up and glared at the boys staring at me. I noticed then that the teacher wasn't there, which would explain why they were throwing things.

"Sorry honey," The one boy said to me. "It was meant for the greaser." They both started laughing as well as the rest of the class except for like two other people.

I looked over at Soda and he had a glare of his own. I guessed he was the 'greaser', whatever that was.

"Right, well let's get one thing straight right now; don't _ever _call me _honey _again. Got it?" I gave him one of those smiles that said "stay out of my face and we'll do just fine" and went back to my work.

"You're real brave to say something like that to me." He said trying to stand his ground.

"And why is that?" I asked impatiently.

"'Cause I know a lotta people who can hold a grudge."

"Is that a threat?" I said with an amused laugh. All the people were looking at us like there was going to be some big fight but I found this situation all very amusing.

"Hey why don't you just leave her alone pal." Soda finally spoke.

"Who's gonna make me? You and your greasy friends?" The other boy asked.

"All right, how's things going in here?" Mr. Calf came in and everyone turned back around.

He must have realized something was up because he was watching us all very closely after that. When he turned away for a moment though Soda spoke to me.

"Sorry 'bout that." He said in a whisper.

"Why? You didn't do anything." I assured him.

"Yeah, but it's 'cause your sittin' next to me."

I looked at him like he was insane. "Are you off your nut? I thought that was hilarious. He thought he was tough, it was so cute." I stated with a sarcastic amusement.

"You sure have an odd sense of humor."

"That I do."

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Class ended and I walked out of the class with Sodapop. I felt much more comfortable with him now even though we only talked for one class. He was just one of those people that were so easy to be friends with. There was just one thing that was bothering me. What _was _a greaser?

"I was kinda wondering…" I started.

"'Bout what?" Soda asked before I could continue.

"Actually, no never mind forget I said anything." I said changing my mind completely. Once I said this, Soda stopped and looked at me.

"Just ask."

"Fine, but you have to promise you won't get mad or anything."

He thought about it for a minute. "Alright."

"What did that boy mean when he called you…a greaser." I asked shyly.

He had no expression on his face. He sighed. "I was wonderin' when you were gonna ask that." He said plainly.

"Look, I'm sorry just forget I said anything." I tried to apologize.

"No, I'll tell you, but you ain't gonna like it. I'm a Greaser, 'cause of my hair, and where I live and how much money I got. That guy, he's a Soc 'cause of how much money he's got and where he lives. They're our gangs we got 'round here. We got our own turfs n' everything. But we don't like each other, and we get in lots of fights 'cause of it. You can tell the difference between us by the way we dress and our hair." Soda and I stood there with a long silence. I didn't take my eyes off him. "So I guess you ain't gonna wanna talk to me no more just 'cause I'm at the bottom, but it's not like it ain't happened b'fore." He sounded annoyed, like this had happened before. Soda started walking away.

"Sodapop!" I said, for the first time his name. I caught up to him. "Just 'cause we're different doesn't mean anything! I don't care if you're a greaser. All the other people can stick it somewhere. I like differences, they're fun. But I ain't shallow, I ain't just gonna not talk to you 'cause of some stupid food chain thing." I looked at him sincerely.

Soda looked at me for a minute. "You dig okay." He said with a smile. I smiled back at him, like I said; you couldn't just not smile at this kid.

Soda walked me to my locker so I could drop off my books seeing as I didn't have any homework, and then we walked outside. We said our goodbyes and walked our separate ways. When I reached my car I sat down and smiled the biggest smile I have ever smiled. I let out an enormous sigh. _Wow, he is amazing. _I drove home, but frankly, I couldn't even tell you how I did it. I was too far off in my own world.

When I got home, no one was there. _Figures. _I thought. I needed to get my mind off that day. I felt like if I thought about it one more time my head would burst.

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k i think this cahpter is kind of short, but it might not be, not really sure. Reviews please =)


	4. Chapter 4

I do not own any characters from the Outsiders.

Chapter 4 of my story. Yay =)

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**Chapter 4**

_Soda P.O.V_

I waited outside the school for Ponyboy where I told him I'd meet him. _Boy that kid sure is slow. I hope he ain't gettin' in no trouble with them damn Socs though. _I thought. Of course right after I start worrying about him, he shows up.

"Hey Soda." Pony said to me as he came over.

"Hey Pony, how'd you like high school?" I asked with a grin.

"S'all right I guess. Got a coupla classes full of Socs though. So that wasn't any fun."

"Ah shoot kid, school ain't fun. Too much thinking involved." I nudged him playfully. We started walking home and didn't even get to the corner without getting called 'Greaser' at least once.

"Man I wish they'd shut their traps." Ponyboy sighed.

It didn't really bother me that they were calling us greasers. I wasn't paying much attention either. I had other things on my mind. Like that girl, Laurie I think her name was. She was cute. _Man, I better be able to concentrate. Darry won't be too happy if I'm flunking. I don't see why though, I mean Pony's the smart one._

"Soda, you payin' attention?" Pony asked.

I looked at him with a sheepish grin. "Sorry Pony, I just got a lot on my mind."

Someone behind us burst into laughter. _Two-bit. _I thought. Pony and I turned around and it was Two-Bit laughing his head off.

"What's so funny Two-Bit?" Pony asked.

"Soda havin' a lotta stuff on his mind." He said through laughs.

"Ha-ha Two-Bit, real funny. But I can have stuff on my mind too you know." I defended myself jokingly.

"Ah, I'm just playin' with ya buddy." Two-Bit Matthews said as he playfully punched my side.

We all walked the rest of the way to me and Pony's house.

"We're home Darry." Pony said as we walked in.

"Picked up a bum while we were walkin' home too." I said talking about Two-Bit. All three of us laughed. It was never a dull moment with the guys.

"Do you guys got any homework?" Darry said walking into the living room.

"Yeah I got a little." Pony admitted.

"Yeah well get it done now. Soda, how 'bout you?" Darry asked me and I looked away. "Get it done little buddy, knowing you, you'll wanna go somewhere tonight, but you won't be able to 'cause you ain't got you're homework done. 'Sides you got work today too."

"Alright, alright don't get fussy." I said. If there was one thing I hated doing, it was homework. I wasn't exactly the smartest person you'd ever meet. Heck I was probably one of the dumbest. The only things I was good at, were auto mechanics and gym, which I have this semester. But English and Science, not so much. That's why Two-Bit laughed so hard when he heard me say I had a lot a stuff on my mind, 'cause that don't happen a lot. But if it were anyone else that laughed at that other than Two-Bit and maybe a couple other people, I would've hit him so hard it'd make their head spin. I knew I wasn't smart, but they didn't have to make a scene.

_Man, _I thought, _this Get to Know your Textbook thing is so messed. It's just flippin' through a textbook to answer questions. And half the questions are about what the chapters are called. This is probably going to be the easiest thing for me all year. _It didn't take me too long for me to finish my homework. It had the pages for me to go to and everything. I finished just before the rest of the guys started coming around. They would've said something if they saw me doing homework.

"Hey, buddy, ready for work?" My best buddy Steve said as he came in through the door.

"Yeah, just let me grab my DX shirt." I said and went back into my and Pony's bedroom to get the shirt. I walked back out into the living room as I popped the collar of my shirt.

"You takin' the truck Soda?" Darry asked me.

I looked at Steve to see if he wanted to drive there.

"Actually don't take it Soda; I might have to go out." Darry changed his mind.

"Guess we're walking Steve." I said as we walked out the door.

It wasn't that long of a walk to the DX unless you were thinking about it. Me and Steve were only working at the gas station part time because of school. I liked working better than school. I was good at my job and I liked it.

A lot of girls always came by when we were working. Steve said it was because they liked to flirt with me, but I think he was just joking around. About halfway through my shift, Dallas Winston came by.

"Hey, it's the two school boys." Dally said as he walked up.

"Hey Dal, how ya doin'?" I asked him.

"I'm doin' alright man. Just thought I might stop by ya know, 'fore I go to Buck's." Dally explained. Leave it to Dally to go to Buck's in the middle of the week. It wasn't like he went to school or anything, so it didn't really matter.

Steve came over after he finished working with someone, and we talked for a while. When it started getting dark Dally made his way to Buck's.

It was eight-thirty when me and Steve's shift ended. We walked only halfway together because Steve had to go home. I walked the rest of the way by myself. I kept thinking about school and how I wished it was still the summer. Then I thought about that girl again. _Shoot, she might say she's gonna talk to me, but that don't mean nothing. _I shoved that thought out of my mind as soon as I thought it. I had to stop thinking about school. This was probably the first time I've ever even thought of school. _Man, that girl sure was something though. _I walked into the house and Pony was sitting on the couch reading some book.

"What ya readin' Pony?" I asked.

"Gone with the Wind." Pony said simply without even looking at me. I guess he didn't want to talk.

"Is Darry home?" I asked again.

"Nope." Again Pony didn't look up at me. I gave up trying to talk to him and sat down. After about a minute I turned on the TV.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ponyboy looking at me. "How was work Soda?" he asked.

I looked at him. "Alright, Dal came by. Talked to me and Steve for a bit then went to Buck's." I said.

"What's it like in Buck's." Pony asked. He'd never been allowed in there. Darry and me would kill him if he even went near it.

"Don't you worry 'bout that, just go readin' your book." I said not wanting to explain Buck's to him again for about the billionth time. Pony let out a little sigh and did as I said.

Darry came home around ten and told Pony to go to bed. Pony didn't like it, thought he could stay up later, but in the end Darry won. You didn't really want to fight with Darry, he was pretty big. I was pretty tired then myself so I went to bed to. And boy was that ever a mistake. Once I closed my eyes I saw that girl's smile. It took forever to get to sleep that night.

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k so that was Chapter 4. Reviews are much appreciated, please keep them coming! =)


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5, yay! =)**

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**Chapter 5**

_Laurie P.O.V_

I woke up at six-thirty. _Day two. _I thought. I got out of bed and refreshed myself. I pulled on a pair of black dress pants if that's what you'd call them. I wore a light blue top and a navy sweater. I finished the rest of my morning routine and went downstairs to the kitchen.

"Morning sweetie." My mom said cheerfully as I walked in.

"Excited for another day of school?" My dad asked. He knew I hated school, he just liked to bug me.

"Yeah dad, ecstatic." I replied sarcastically.

"Honey, Bob will be here to pick you up for school at seven-thirty." My mom said.

_Seven-thirty, great that leaves me about two minutes to myself. _Right after I thought that there was a knock at the door. "That would be Bob." I quickly ran to get my stuff and went to the door. "Let's go." I said to Bob. "Bye mom, bye dad." I yelled into the house and closed the door.

We went to his mustang and I got into the front seat. "Why so early anyways?" I asked him.

"Gotta pick up some people." Bob said.

"I see." After a few minutes of silence I spoke. "I ain't movin' to the back. Your friends can." Bob let out a chuckle. I didn't see how the situation was funny, I was being completely serious.

"Alright, you don't have to move. I wasn't gonna make you anyways, it's not like I'm picking up my girlfriend or anything." Bob said.

I burst out laughing when I heard the word _girlfriend._ It was just the thought of Bob having a girlfriend.

"What?" He sounded surprised.

"Nothing. Nothing." I said trying to keep a straight face. I wasn't doing a very good job.

"Oh come on. Seriously, what's so funny?" Bob asked again.

"You, a girlfriend. I'm sorry, but it's just…" I couldn't think of a word to explain it so I just kept laughing. He looked a little annoyed that I laughed. "Ah come on Bob, I'm just playin'." I said and playfully hit him in his side. He looked at me and gave me a sideways grin.

We stopped at this beautiful house.

"Your friend lives _here?" _I asked surprised.

"Yep." Bob said simply.

Bob honked the horn and a boy with dark brown curly hair came out the door. He was wearing a dark red sweater over a collared shirt. He walked to the side of the car in which I was sitting. He didn't realize I was there so I didn't say anything.

"Hey Bob." He said as he opened the door. He was about to get in when he finally noticed me. "Hello." He said.

"Hi, I'm Laurie." I said cheerfully.

"Randy. I guess I'm sitting in the back?" He said it as a question not a statement.

"Guess so." I said and pulled the seat forward so he could get in. "Is this all the people we're picking up?" I asked impatiently.

"Kevin said he didn't need a ride anymore." Randy chimed in.

"Guess this is it then." Bob concluded.

I was pretty quiet on the ride to school. Randy and Bob did all the talking. I wasn't paying much attention, but I thought I heard the word 'greaser' a couple of times. I decided to just ignore it. But I was wondering something.

"Bob, are you a 'Soc'?" I asked when they were silent for a moment.

"What?" Bob asked.

"Are you a Soc, you know, like there's greasers and there's Socs." I explained.

"Yeah, I am, and so's Randy. Why?"

"Just curious, heard some kids talkin' 'bout it and I was just wondering." I left it at that.

When we got to school I went my way and Bob went his. I watched as he went to his group of friends. I saw him go straight to a girl, he hugged her and it didn't seem like a buddy-buddy hug. _Must be his girlfriend. She looks pretty though. I wonder how he managed that. _I thought to myself as I walked to my locker. I did my combination but it wouldn't open.

"Damn it." I said to myself. I tried again with my combination. It wouldn't budge. "Damn it again." I said. I knew I put the combination somewhere in my bag. I started searching through my bag and finally found it. I did my combination again but it still wouldn't work. I was getting really fed up now. I hit the locker.

"Stupid locker. Stupid combination." I muttered to myself. I took a deep breath and tried once more. It finally opened. I laughed sarcastically to myself. "Fourth time's a charm." I said. I grabbed my English books and checked the time. It was two minutes before the bell would ring. Apparently it took longer than I thought to open my locker.

I headed up to my classroom. The bell rang as I was on my way up. I walked into the class.

"Morning." Mr. Hail said as I walked in.

"Morning sir." I replied keeping my head down. I walked all the way to the back and sat in my desk. I set my stuff up and waited for announcements to begin. Not even two seconds before announcements started Sodapop walked in.

I actually listened to the announcements today. I did it mostly just to get my mind off the fact that I was sitting to the most amazingly gorgeous person I have ever met in my life. Right after announcements ended, class began.

"Today, we're actually going to get into some work. I'm passing out a review booklet and it will be done in sections. Parts A to D are due tomorrow. We're going to go over it all in class if you have any questions come ask." Mr. Hail went over everything we had to do like he said. Then he just sat at his desk and did some work.

I read over the package again. "Well this should be fun." I said sarcastically to myself, but apparently Soda overheard.

"School ain't fun." Soda joked to me. I laughed slightly. I had to hold in my laughter, but I didn't want to laugh because of what he said, it was because he was just talking to me. I hoped my face wasn't red, but I knew it was.

_Oh, I hope he thinks my face is red because I'm laughing. _I quickly became very interested in my work not wanting to make a fool of myself in front of Soda. All this package was was grammar reviews and 'fix the sentences' exercises. I could do this stuff in my sleep.

"What are we supposed to do?" Soda asked me.

"Answer the questions?" I suggested. I was kind of confused by the question. The work was pretty self-explanatory.

"Yeah, I got that. But what's with the grammar thing?"

"The sentences are grammatically wrong. Just fix the errors." I said and continued my work. I noticed out of the corner of my eye Soda looking over at my paper.

I looked up at him and he gave me that crazy grin again. "School isn't your thing is it?" I joked.

"Oh, sure it is, I'm a real nerd." He laughed. "Your gonna have a lotta fun sittin' next to me all semester. I'm gonna be askin' questions the whole time. I ain't the smart one in the family."

"Who is?" I asked curiously.

"My younger brother Ponyboy." When he said that, I stared at him. "What?" he asked.

"That is an amazing name." I said. "So's yours. They're so original." Soda seemed to think this was amusing. "What?" Now it was my turn to ask.

"Nothin', it's just not what people usually say." Soda said.

"Well I ain't your usually person." I said and then regretted it. _Why am I flirting with him?! There is no way he'd ever go out with someone like me. I must be outta my mind. _

Class ended shortly after. I had gotten done every section except for the last part. I was two questions off. _Oh well, two questions, two seconds. _I thought.

I started walking to my drama class, unaware of my surroundings. I didn't come back to reality until someone bumped into me. I looked up just to find some guy smirking at me. I rolled my eyes and kept walking. I heard him say something, but I didn't turn around.

"Hey." I said as I sat beside Karen in drama class.

"Hey." She said all hyper and cheerful.

We started talking about the most random things ever. That was my favourite thing about her; we didn't have to be so serious. It was like back home with me and Susan. Unfortunately, our conversation was cut short because the teacher decided to begin the lesson. Drama was like it was supposed to be: dramatic. We just did some acting exercises and played some drama games.

The bell rang and I went to my locker to put my books away. _Lunch. Finally. _I thought and made my way outside.

_he'd ever go out with someone like me. I must be outta my mind. _

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Kay so that was chapter five. Thanks for all the reviews, you guys have been so great with them, keep them coming! =)


	6. Chapter 6

kay so chapter 6 of my story, hurray! =) *jumps for joy* ~i do not own the outsiders or any of the characters within it's pages~ read away!

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Chapter 6

I had been walking for about 10 minutes and reached a variety store. I went in to buy a coke. The guy that was working there was eyeing me like I was going to steal something. I was going to say something about it, but at the last minute I changed my mind.

I went back outside and took a drink of the coke. I sat down on the sidewalk when a mustang rolled up. It was Bob's.

"Hey," Bob said as he got out of the car. "You know, you shouldn't be walkin' the streets by yourself."

I looked at him like he was insane. "It's the middle of the day. I highly doubt anyone's gonna jump me in the middle of the day." I paused. "And technically I'm not walkin'. I'm sittin'."

He gave me a look because of my sarcasm. After that he just ignored it. "You gettin' jumped ain't what I'm worried about, its them greasers talkin' to you that worries me." He concluded.

Bob and his friends went inside the store and I took the opportunity to leave. The less I talked to Bob, the better.

Now don't get me wrong, I have no problem with my cousin, it's just he can be very… talkative I guess. It's hard to explain, but he just always has to point me out. And being pointed out isn't one of the many things I liked. I hated it when people point me out in the middle of the street and just start calling my name, or when random people just stop and stare at you. It annoyed me. Sometimes I'd get really mad at the people and say some rude comments. That was one of my problems. I had a temper. It didn't always come out because I can usually control it, but sometimes…

When I got back to the school the bell rang. I rushed to my locker to get my stuff and then ran to my drama class.

"Hey," I said breathlessly as I sat beside Karen in drama class.

"Hey." She replied all hyper and cheerful.

We started talking about the most random things ever. That was my favourite thing about her; we didn't have to be so serious. It was like back home with me and Susan. Unfortunately, our conversation was cut short because the teacher decided to begin the lesson.

Basically all we did was some acting exercises, like the one where you have to be the mirror image of your partner. Of course Karen and I were partners and we were laughing the whole time. That was great though, because it didn't allow me to think. I thought _way _too much for my own good.

Drama always ended so quickly which was depressing because that was the only class I wanted to last. I wondered if I became more into the other classes if they would go as fast. I shoved that thought out of my head though because after I thought it I realized how stupid it was.

When the class ended I went to my science class. By the time I arrived most of the class was there. I was a slow walker. I walked down the rows to get to my desk when I suddenly stumbled a bit and had to regain balance. I looked at the girl that was looking at me really rudely yesterday.

"Oops. Sorry." She pretended to look all innocent when I knew that she was far from it.

"Uh-huh sure, just make sure that if your foot just _happens _to be exactly where I'm walking again I'm just going to _happen _to walk all over it. Got it?" I didn't like her. She was just such a bitch. Honestly, how rude could one person seriously be?

She glared at me as if she didn't believe what I said, but I was dead serious. I opened up my books to what we did the night before and waited. I kept looking up out of the corner of my eye every time someone walked in the classroom. I didn't know why I cared if he came. Sodapop would never go for someone like me. When he walked in though, my heart skipped a beat.

_Yeah, I'm cool._ I thought sarcastically to myself. He sat down and before he could do anything the girl in front of my turned around and began talking to him.

"Hi Sodapop," She said over excited.

"Hi." He stated. I almost laughed from his expression; he looked kind of scared at her sudden interest in him. Since I couldn't laugh because they would look at me, I pretended to be interested in the homework from last night.

"So I hear you work at the DX," She said conversationally.

"Yep." He didn't seem very interested in the conversation.

I looked back up from my homework. I studied the girls face. I noticed that she wore way too much make-up. I was trying to figure out how she could hold her head up with that much make-up on and she spoke to me.

"What are you looking at?" She asked all rudely.

"I don't know, I can't see beneath the make-up." I mumbled very low. Soda must've heard it because he started laughing. Or at least he was trying _not _to laugh seeing as the girl was still sitting right there.

"What was that?" She asked.

"Nothing." I said innocently and Soda started laughing louder. I started laughing too when she turned back around, rolling her eyes.

Me and Soda continued to laugh and I noticed she was looking at us from the corner of her eye. She was trying to make it seem like she was talking to the girl beside her, but I saw her look.

"Shut up." I said to Soda, still a laughing a bit. He tried to stop and his laughs came out in little huffs.

The science teacher finally started the class and began taking up the homework. The first thing he did though was a homework check. I didn't have anything to worry about seeing as I had done the work already so I just flipped the page like I was bored when he came by. He put a checkmark for me and Soda because we had done our homework.

It took about 15 minutes just to take up the homework. He took forever because he explained each and every question. I didn't even realize when he asked me what the answer was. Thankfully Soda nudged me and I looked up to answer. I really needed to pay more attention. I dazed out too much for my own good.

When we finished taking up the homework he gave us some introduction work from the textbook. He asked us to read some pages and answer 15 questions about what we'd read. When he sat back at his desk everyone started talking. Including me and Soda.

"You're new in town aren't you?" Soda asked suddenly.

"Yeah." I stated simply. I was still kind of depressed when it came to the whole moving thing. "I just moved here actually."

"Oh. So you been around town yet?" He asked.

"I've kinda had a tour, but I didn't actually go in anywhere. The only places I've been in are the school and some variety store today." I felt like a loser saying that to him. He was going to think I was a loner with no friends.

"Well maybe you should come with me and some of my buddies at lunch sometime. We could show you some places, and we'll actually go inside." He was mocking me, but when it was him doing it I didn't mind.

"Yeah maybe." I would love to go somewhere with him, but I would feel really out of place, especially if we went somewhere with his friends.

"How about tomorrow?"

I didn't actually hear what he said. After he suggested he take me on a little tour, I remembered what Bob told me. If Bob saw me with someone like Sodapop I don't know what he'd do.

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All the reviews have been soo good. Thanks so much everyone. Please keep them coming! They make me feel special! =)


	7. Chapter 7

Kay so i've finally gotten around to updating, read away =)**

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**Chapter 7**

"Laurie, did you hear me?" Soda asked.

"Huh?" I came back to reality.

"I said maybe you'd wanna hang out at lunch tomorrow. If you don't want to its fine." He looked kind of taken aback by my response.

"No, I do wanna go. Yeah sorry I was just, uh, thinking. But I really do wanna go. That'd be cool." I rushed thinking he'd change his mind about hanging out with me.

"Alright, I'll meet you outside your class before lunch."

"Right, there's just one problem." I pointed out.

"What's that?" He asked confused.

"You don't know what my class before lunch is." I said with a mocking smile.

"Oh. Yeah, that would help." He smiled back at me. I wrote my class number on his paper. Then I went back to my work until the end of the class.

At the end of class Soda walked with me to my locker like the day before. I put my stuff away and grabbed the stuff I needed for homework. We walked outside, said out goodbyes and went our separate ways.

I found Bob standing with his car. I got in the front seat and sat there with a huge smile on my face. We dropped Randy off and Bob looked at me.

"What's with you?" He asked.

"Huh? Oh nothing," I said still smiling.

"Right, that's bullshit." He replied. I just ignored him I wasn't going to bother.

Bob dropped me off at my house and I went straight to my room I wanted to call Susan so badly. I wanted to tell her about Sodapop and how we were going to hang out. I lay down on my bed and looked up at the ceiling. I don't how long I starred at the ceiling for; all I know was that I was startled by a knocking at my door.

"Laurie, are you in there?" It was my mom.

I got up and opened the door. "What's up?"

"We're going over to your aunt and uncle's. Do you want to come?" I thought about that. Did I want to go? That would mean I would see Bob. Well most likely. Unless he was with his girlfriend. And if he was, that would make me look like a loser in front of my family. I'd rather stay in the comfort of my own home and look like a loser thank you.

"No, I think I'll stay home, besides I got homework to do anyways." I concluded.

"Oh, okay then, you can find something in the fridge for dinner. Or you can go out and get something. We won't be back until late. Bye sweetie." My mom said. I didn't have time to reply because she just walked away.

I closed my door and took out my homework. I finished the couple questions I had for English and it took me less than two minutes. I kicked the books off my bed and lay back again. I dazed off and just went into my own little world. I didn't even realize that I had fallen asleep.

I woke up suddenly. I had a nightmare; I don't really know what happened in it though. It was one of those dreams where you know something bad happened, but you just couldn't remember what it was. I looked at my clock; it was 2:30 in the morning. I looked down at my clothes. I was too lazy to change them so I just rolled over and tried to get back to sleep. Thankfully it didn't take too long.

When I woke up I was still dead to the world. I was tired. It felt like I hadn't slept more than two minutes. I showered and refreshed myself as well as changed. I rand a brush through my pin straight hair and put a hair band in. I applied a very light amount of make-up and put on some chap stick. I was wearing a nice pair of dark blue jeans, and a dark purple shirt with short sleeves. I did a last minute check up in the mirror and when I was satisfied enough I grabbed my books that were scattered on the floor and went down stairs.

"It's alive." My dad joked when I walked into the kitchen. I just looked at him; I was too tired to retaliate.

"Bob's going to be here at the same time as yesterday." My mom told me. I looked at the clock and saw that I was early.

I went to the fridge, grabbed some orange juice, grabbed a glass and poured some juice. I put the juice back in the fridge and drank the orange juice. I never had time to eat in the morning so this was all I could have. Just as I was finishing, there was a knock at the door.

"There's Bob. Bye." I said as I grabbed my stuff and walked towards the door. I didn't even say hi to Bob, I just walked to the car. He just kind of stood at the door for a moment and looked at me. Then he finally walked to the car and started driving.

"Do we have to pick people up today?" I asked.

"Just Randy again." Bob replied. I nodded, but I don't know if he noticed.

"Something wrong?" He asked after about a minute of silence.

"Not really, just kinda tired. Felt like I only got like 2 minutes of sleep." I sighed. I hated being tired; I was so boring when I was tired.

We picked up Randy and then went off to school. When we got to school I went my way and they went theirs. It was starting to become a routine for me to just leave people. I never stayed with people. It was really weird for me because before I moved, I couldn't stand to be alone for more than two minutes. I had to be with my friends all the time at school. I guess people changed when they moved to a different school.

I didn't feel like going to class since it was way too early to go, so I decided to go to the cafeteria. I saw Karen and went to join her.

"Hey!" She exclaimed when she saw me.

"Hi." I replied kind of shyly. She was with a lot of her friends and they were all looking at me.

"Come sit!" She urged me. I sat down reluctantly and she began making introductions. All her friends seemed really nice so by the time the bell rang I was laughing my head off and no longer tired.

I ran to my locker when the bell rang. I didn't have anything with me and I needed to get to class. I was almost late, but I managed to get there in time. I sat down at my desk and attempted to catch my breath. I looked up and noticed that there was some guy sitting in front of me and looking at me.

"Hi?" I questioned because I had no idea who that person was.

"Hi." He said in a deep voice. He turned around after that so I didn't have to worry about him bothering me. I had been so busy trying to figure out why he had been looking at me, let alone who he was that I didn't even notice that Soda came in.

"Hey." He said.

"Oh, hey." I looked at him. "When did you get here?" I asked.

"Just now." He looked at me like I was weird.

"Oh." I stated simply. The announcements started up and I didn't feel like listening to I began to write names all over my binders. That's what I did when I was bored. I'd write. I would just sit there and write all the names of the guys I loved. Of course, they weren't actual guys, they were famous ones. I wouldn't be caught dead writing the names of guys I went to school with. That was just insane.

When announcements were done, the teacher did a homework check and then began taking up the homework. When he finished that, he gave us a note and then assigned the rest of the review booklet. We only had about 20 minutes to work on it in class. Of course Soda and I used that time more for talking.

"So where are we gonna go today at lunch?" I asked halfway through our conversation. I had been writing answers for the booklet every so often but I wasn't really paying attention to what I was writing to I don't know if they were right.

"I dunno yet. I was thinking just a variety store, but we'll probably walk around." Soda answered.

"Alright, sounds good." I said and went back to my work. The bell rang and Soda told me he'd see me at lunch, I was so excited.

I went to my math class and I honestly couldn't tell you a thing that happened. Ok, that's not entirely true, I remember my teacher assigning work and me doing the work. But as for the lesson…let's just say it's a good thing we didn't have a quiz the next day. The bell rang and I went outside the room and waited. People were walking out of the class and looking at me. Geez, was it so weird to see someone stand outside a classroom?

Practically no one was in the halls anymore. I was about to leave when I saw Sodapop.

"Hey, sorry I'm a little late, got in trouble." He gave me a wild grin.

I just shook my head and laughed. We walked to my locker and I dropped off my stuff. Then we went outside the school and we walked to a tree.

"Why are we going to a tree?" I asked confused.

"It's where we're meeting with my buddies." He explained.

"Oh." I felt really stupid. When we reached the tree I realized that there were actually people standing there. One looked really young. He looked too young to be going to high school. His hair was a brown colour, but I couldn't really tell what shade it was because it was greased back. The other looked about Soda's age. His hair too was greased back, but it was done differently. I don't know exactly how to describe it. The last one looked the oldest out of all of us. He was wearing a Mickey-mouse shirt and his hair was greased back. I guessed they were all greasers and all hung around each other.

"Hey guys." Soda said as we walked over. They all looked up at us. I froze. They all started saying hi and coming over, I guess they didn't realize I was there, or maybe they did but just ignored me. "Guys this is Laurie." He pointed to the youngest. "This here's my younger brother Pony." Pony nodded to acknowledge me. He pointed to the one that looked our age. "This here's my best buddy Steve." Then he pointed to the oldest. "And this here's ol' Two-Bit." I looked at him insanely.

"It's just a nick-name." He reassured me and I guess I looked relieved because he laughed slightly at me.

"So, what're you doin' hangin' 'round a bum like Soda?" Two-Bit asked me. I looked at him blankly.

"I uh, don't know?" I was kind of taken aback. They all started laughing at me. I just looked at them.

"Kay so how's 'bout we take Laurie here on a little tour?" Soda suggested. They all agreed and we started walking. Soda walked by my side. "You don't have to worry about Two-Bit. He's just playin'. He lives for jokes." Soda schooled me on his friends.

We went to a variety store. It wasn't the same one I went to the day before. We stopped outside it and they began talking. I wasn't really sure what they were talking about. I was looking down because the sun was so bright, when all of a sudden a pack of smokes was in my face.

"You want one?" Two-Bit offered.

"Uh, no I don't smoke." I said and they all looked at me. "I only do when I'm really stressed." I explained.

We all went into the variety store and bought cokes then went back outside. I studied their faces as they talked. I noticed that Pony was really quiet, but I couldn't tell if it was because I was there or if he was like that all the time. I noticed that like Soda said, Two-Bit made a joke about every 2 minutes, most of which were very funny. Steve, I noticed was kind of loud or obnoxious, I didn't know what I really thought about him.

We started walking back to the school after a while and I talked more to them. I felt more comfortable with them and was able to make jokes with them. On the way back though I ended up walking with Ponyboy.

"How old are you anyway?" I asked him curiously.

"14." He seemed kind of disconnected.

"Soda tells me you're the smart one." I attempted to make conversation.

"Yeah. They keep telling me that and then I go do somethin' stupid and they say I don't use my head."

"Yeah, I get that a lot too. You ain't the only one." I joked with him. I was surprised to get a laugh out of him.

When we reached the school, Two-Bit, Ponyboy and Steve said bye, but Soda walked me to my locker and then to my drama class.

"So, what'd you think?" Soda asked while we were walking to my class.

"About what? Your friends or the whole tour thing?" I asked him a question back.

He thought about it for a moment. "Both."

"Your friends are very…interesting, but it's not a bad thing and the tour thing was fun."

"Maybe you wanna do it again sometime?" Soda suggested.

"Yeah I'd like that."

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yeah so there's chapter seven. Please review! =)


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 =D yay! read away.

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Chapter 8

I watched Sodapop walk down the hall and then walked into the drama room. When I walked in Karen dropped her jaw practically to the floor.

"Who is he?" She demanded.

"What are you talking about?" I asked so confused.

"You just walked in here with the biggest smile on your face. Obviously there is a guy involved. So it's best you tell me before I have to hit it out of you." I could tell Karen wouldn't let up on this. So I found myself telling her all about Soda and the lunch thing and everything.

She didn't know who I was talking about at first but when I told her a bit of a description she caught on real fast.

"Oh he's the one that works at the DX! Oh he's really something. He looks like he jumped outta a movie." Karen apparently agreed that he was good looking too.

All through drama we kept on whispering to each other about what I should do next and how I should invite her along one time for lunch. We got in trouble a couple of times for it too. I was finally being more like myself again.

Drama ended and I went to science. I didn't really want to go to science to be quite honest, but I went anyways. I didn't really feel like getting suspended. I went to the science room and prepared myself for the class when I sat down.

When the class started the Mr. Calf did a homework check and then took up the homework. For the rest of the class we took notes. Soda and I were joking the whole time too. I'm pretty sure the teacher gave us a couple of glares for talking so much, but the lights were off so I wasn't sure if I saw right.

At the end of the day, Soda did what he had since the first day of the school year. He walked me to my locker and outside. But today when he walked me outside he didn't say goodbye right away.

He brought his hand up and scratched the back of his head. "I was wonderin', maybe you'd like to hang with me and some of the guys outside school sometime." He looked at me and we locked eyes.

"Yeah. You can show me more places." I said with a joking smile. "When?" I asked.

"Maybe Friday. I could get some of the guys into it. We could go to the Nightly Double or something."

"Alright. We'll go over some details tomorrow okay?" I suggested.

"Alright, see ya." He said and started walking away.

"Bye." I said and walked the other way. Another day I got to go home with a giant smile. Maybe moving here wasn't that bad.

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We went over all the details on Thursday and it was set. We were going to meet up at the variety store we had gone to and go to the Nightly Double from there. Soda said I wouldn't be the only girl there because Steve was going to bring his girlfriend Evie, but it didn't think it would bother me that much if I was going to be the only girl with all the guys.

I was getting ready before I had to leave for the variety store. My mom said she'd drive me so it saved me the walk. I looked at myself in the mirror. I thought I looked pretty good. I was wearing a black pair of jeans and a light pink long short sleeved shirt. I pulled on a navy pull-over sweater and fixed my hair again. I had pulled back some of my hair in a clip but it was mostly all down. I had a light pink eye shadow on and I was ready to go. I just hoped I didn't look too ready.

My mom and I left the house and she dropped me off at the variety store. When I got out of the car my mom drove away almost immediately. I felt kind of stupid just standing there waiting to I decided to go sit down and wait. Of course once I did they came.

"Hey, there she is!" Two-Bit exclaimed. He sounded kind of funny.

"Hey guys," I said walking over. I noticed there were some more people this time. One had very greasy black hair. The other actually had no grease in his hair. I studied his face as much as I could. He wasn't ugly, but next to Soda he didn't compare. If he was by himself he would look much better.

Pony and Soda said hi to me as they were all walking over. I noticed a girl with Steve as they came closer. I guessed that it was Evie.

Soda started introductions again. "Laurie this is Johnny and Dally," He said pointing to the black haired one and the other next. Johnny said hi shyly and Dally just nodded in acknowledgement.

"I'm Evie." Steve's date said. I guess Soda must not have remembered she was there.

"Hi." I replied. I wasn't good with meeting people all the time. Besides there were a lot of meetings for me in the past week.

"It's too early to go to the movie. What do ya think we should do?" Pony said.

"Walk the streets bein' wild and crazy!" Two-Bit exclaimed enthusiastically. I started laughing. He amused me.

That's basically what we did too. We were just walking the streets doing anything and everything we could. I became more talkative after a little and found myself talking a lot with Two-Bit, Pony and Johnny. This was weird seeing as Soda invited me, not them. I did notice however, that Dally would flirt with anybody. When we were in a store Dally had tried to pick up the cashier. I think she was buying it too, but thankfully we left before anything happened.

We finally decided to go to the movies and when we got there, I heard Dally saying something about going in the "other" way. But he ended up staying with us so I must've heard him wrong. We got seats in the area for people without cars and I ended up sitting between Sodapop and Ponyboy. I felt kind of fidgety though but I didn't know why. I sat beside Soda everyday, but maybe it was just the fact that it was outside school. All I knew was that I was self conscious.

I kept crossing and uncrossing my legs and folding and unfolding my arms. I kept playing with my fingers and running my hands through my hair. I also kept shifting in my seat trying to get comfortable even though I already was. I saw Ponyboy glance at me through the corner of his eye. I guess my movement was noticeable.

"Wanna come with me to get some cokes and popcorn?" Soda asked.

I looked at him and thought about it. It was still the sponsoring things so it wasn't like I would miss any of the movie so I agreed. Soda offered to get other people some stuff, but the rest of them had gotten stuff while Soda and I had gotten seats.

We were standing in a line to pay after we had gotten food and drinks and we hadn't spoken at all. It was an awkward silence too. I wanted to break it but I didn't want to sound to eager to talk or anything.

"Havin' fun yet?" Soda asked with a smile.

"Yeah, you guys are entertaining." I replied jokingly. I was relieved that he had broken the silence, but after saying a couple other things we didn't talk. Thankfully though, we were back at out seats with the movie starting so we didn't have to worry too much about talking.

The movie was pretty good. I don't really know what we saw though. I think it was some sort of comedy horror. I was laughing when some people were screaming so I couldn't tell what kind of movie it was. At one part it was supposed to be this really scary scene and I burst out laughing. Everyone was looking at me so I just ducked my head and pretended to look at the ground, although all I was really doing was attempting to contain my laughter. Soda had nudged me playfully then and I heard him laugh lightly.

We waited for most of the people to leave before we went anywhere.

"What'd y'all think of the movie?" I asked Pony and Johnny because the others were having their own conversation.

"I thought it was alright." Johnny stated.

"I liked it," Pony said at the same time as Johnny said what he thought. We had just exited the drive-in and Soda stepped by my side.

"So what'd ya think?" He asked.

"I thought it was good." I admitted.

"You also thought it was funny. Laughin' at scary parts." He mocked me.

I playfully shoved him. "I thought it was funny," I said in defense. I looked around as we walked. It was really dark out. All the others were being really loud, I wondered if someone was going to say something to them.

"Do you gotta go home yet?" Soda asked.

"I dunno actually. I never said a time I'd be home at." I explained.

"You should hang out with us for a bit." Soda paused. "If you want I mean."

"Soda, I ain't gonna just not wanna hang out with you guys all of a sudden. I'm not like that. You have to do something that pisses me off before I don't hang out with ya." I said. Soda nodded to say that he understood what I was talking about.

"Hey Soda man, are we goin' back to your place?" Dally asked.

"Oh well me an' Evie are gonna do our own thing, see y'all." Steve said and we said goodbye.

"It don't matter, I dunno what I'm doin' yet." Soda replied to Dally.

"I was thinkin' of headin' to Buck's, wanna come Dal?" Two-Bit offered.

"Sure man." Dally said. He walked past me and when he did he looked right at me. I looked at him back and fortunately I couldn't see his expression. It was too dark for that. I didn't know much about Dally but I didn't know if I wanted to or not.

"Hey Soda, me an' Johnny are gonna go home. See ya around Laurie." Pony said.

"See ya guys," Johnny said and walked away.

I looked at all of them leaving with a blank expression. Then I started laughing. "Did they rehearse that or what?" I asked still laughing.

Soda was laughing now too. "You never know with them."

We ended up going to a park. There was a little jungle gym type thing and I decided I wanted to sit at the top of it. It wasn't very comfortable though seeing as it was made of poles. It looked kind of like a dome the way it was shaped. There wasn't much to the park. I tried looking for some swings after I was at the top of the dome thing, but I had no luck. Then again, I could hardly see two feet in front of me.

I looked back to find Soda. I couldn't find him. I started panicking. I didn't want to be all by myself at a park I didn't even know of. I was about to climb down when I felt someone sit beside me. I jerked my head over and saw someone. My heart almost stopped but then I realized it was Soda.

"Oh my God Soda! You just scared me half to death!" I yelled. I was trying to catch my breath from my mini heart attack. "God, I thought you were someone else." I said and he laughed. I nudged him. "It's not funny." I defended myself jokingly. I sighed and looked back at the stars.

"It sure is beautiful." I said more to myself but Soda replied.

"Yeah. Sometimes Pony makes me stop and look at the stars," Soda said in a 'tell-a-story' kind of voice.

I kind of dazed off after that. I don't think Soda was talking though so I didn't feel too bad about it. After a while Soda did speak up.

"We've been here awhile." Soda stated.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"I don't know."

"We should probably go," I said getting up and then realizing I was on the jungle gym. I caught myself just in time. I would've fallen on my face. "I'm okay." I let myself know. Soda just looked at me and laughed a little.

"How're you gettin' home?" Soda asked as we walked away from the park.

"My mom I guess." I stated.

"Kay, well we can go to my house and you can use my phone. Alright?" Soda suggested.

I hesitated. "No Soda." I protested. I felt bad. "I don't wanna impose or anything. I can just use a pay phone."

"I ain't gonna make you use a pay phone." I could tell that Soda wasn't going to let this go.

"Alright, alright, I'll use your phone." I surrendered.

We walked to his house and I took a deep breath before we went inside. When we walked in the first thing I noticed was cigarette smoke. Next, I noticed that Two-Bit, Dally, Pony, Johnny and Steve were sitting at the table playing cards. There was also someone else there, but I had no idea who it was. When we first walked in I don't think anyone noticed, but then the door slammed and they looked up to see who it was.

We were then ambushed by hello's and long-time-no-see's. The one I didn't know, whom I realized then was very large, walked over to me and Soda. I felt very uncomfortable near him. After all, if I took one wrong move he could squish me in a second. By the way, knowing that you could get squished any second is not very reassuring.

"Hello," The big guy said as he walked over. I couldn't bring myself to say anything. I shifted my head a bit to look at Soda.

"Hey Darry, this is Laurie, she's gonna use the phone to call her mom to pick her up." Soda explained.

"Hi," I said shyly.

"I'm Soda's older brother Darry," He said sticking out his hand. I took and he shook my hand in his firm grip. "Phone's over there." He pointed to the corner of the room.

The rest of the guys became very loud again. I dialled the number anyway and plugged my other ear in hopes to hear better. It rang and rang but no one picked up. I hung up and thought about the number. Had I dialled it right? I picked the phone up again and dialled only this time slower. After two rings someone picked up. It was my dad, so I asked to speak with my mom. We figured out a time because my aunt and uncle were over. I hung up after we agreed on what we were doing.

"Well?" Soda asked since he was listening to my end the whole time.

"She's gonna be here in 45 minutes to an hour, is that okay?" I asked.

"Yeah it's fine." Soda reassured me.

"Are you sure I mean, I don't want your parents to be mad that I'm here or anything." Once I said that, I regretted it immediately.

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kay so that was chapter 8. Thanks so much for the reviews! they are greatly appreciated. please keep them coming!


	9. Chapter 9

Kay so this is chapter nine. I personally don't think that this is one of my better chapters so if you don't like it, i'm very sorry just don't yell at me please.**

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**Chapter 9**

Soda looked down at his hands in his lap. I had obviously said something I shouldn't have. Why did I have to open my big mouth?

I didn't want to say anything worse so I just sat there. I wanted to say something, but nothing would come to me.

"Let's go outside," He finally said, still looking at his hands. He got up right after he said it and I followed silently.

When we got outside he sat on the stairs of the porch, -- I sat beside him -- staring in a daze.

"My parents died not too long ago. It still hurts to think 'bout it." Soda told me. He sounded really hurt.

"Soda," I put my hand on his arm in comfort. "I'm sorry." I paused. "I wish I could say I know how you feel, but…" My voice trailed off. Sure, I had lost a lot in moving, but to never be able to see my parents ever again? That's a whole other story. I never actually finished my sentence, we just sat in silence.

After a couple of minutes I realized my hand was still on his arm. I pulled it off very quickly because I became really uncomfortable. I looked down at my knees and became very fidgety.

"Do you wanna go back inside?" Soda asked suddenly. I looked at him when he said this. He finally looked at me.

I just shrugged at first. "It doesn't matter; if you want I'll go back inside." I knew I wasn't being much help, but I hated it when people asked me to make a decision that involved other people.

He let out a chuckle. I assumed it was because of my answer. I guess he decided we'd stay outside because he never got up to lead me inside the house. I looked up and found myself staring at the moon. I kind of dazed off because all of a sudden I was being nudged.

"Huh?" I asked startled.

"You've been looking at nothing for about 5 minutes." He explained laughing slightly at me.

Embarrassed, I tucked hair behind my ear, the only thing was, no hair was in front of my ear. "Oh, sorry, I was kinda in my own little world," I said shyly. Yet again, we sat in silence.

Not even two minutes after we had our little conversation (if that's what you could call it), Ponyboy and Johnny came outside.

I turned around as soon as I heard the door open.

"Oh," Ponyboy said surprised. "I was wonderin' where you two went." He said as soon as he saw Soda and I.

"Well you found us." I stated oddly. That was my attempt at a joke. Unfortunately, Pony just looked at me like I was insane. I just shut up and decided not to attempt jokes anymore.

"So what're you two doin' out here?" Pony asked while Johnny just stood at his side silently.

I didn't think Pony needed to hear about what we had talked about. If Soda wanted to tell Pony about he was welcome, but I didn't want him to tell him while I was there. So that's why I quickly said, "I needed some air."

I'll admit it, I was embarrassed. I felt bad that I had brought something up that I shouldn't have. Of course I didn't know, but I still felt bad.

Ponyboy said that he and Johnny were going to go for a walk and left. Johnny said bye to Soda and me and so did Pony.

Soda and I continued to sit on the porch and I noticed a chill. Subconsciously, I started rubbing my arms.

"You cold?" Soda asked.

"No I'm fine." I reassured him. Okay, I lied, I was cold.

Soda looked at me with a cocked eyebrow. A shiver ran through my spine. I blamed it on the cold, but deep down I knew it was because of him. "You're rubbin' your arms." He pointed out.

I smiled a little. "Kay, so maybe I'm a _little _cold."

"Let's go inside, we can come back out when your mom's comin'." Soda told me. I agreed seeing as I had no other option.

We walked back inside and were again ambushed by greetings. Two-Bit came over and started chatting with me. I couldn't actually tell you what we were talking about though. We were just sharing stories and one story would lead to another. All I know, is that when Soda came over to take me back outside, Two-Bit and I were talking about cats. Don't ask me how we got on that subject, because I do not know.

When Soda and I walked outside I asked him, "What time is it anyways?"

"11:45." He replied.

I nodded my head to acknowledge his answer. We stood for a couple more minutes and all of a sudden I dropped to the ground to sit. I crossed my legs and sat there childishly. I felt eyes looking at me so I looked up. Soda was staring at me with an amusing grin. He began laughing and then joined me by sitting.

"You wanna know something?" He asked.

I looked at him for a minute. "I'm afraid to say yes." I joked.

"No, it's nothing bad." He joked as well.

"Okay, what?"

"I have never met anyone like you." He said. I couldn't tell if he was joking or serious.

"Is that a good thing?" I asked confused.

"It's a good thing." He assured me.

I kept looking up and down the street, trying to find my mom. _Where is she? _I panicked. I think Soda could read the panic on my face because he began questioning me.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I replied.

"You look kinda fidgety." He pointed out.

"I'm just looking for my mom." I stated.

Another 10 minutes passed and my mom still wasn't there. I was panicking even more now.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"I dunno. Come on inside, let's go check." He suggested.

I got up and followed him into the house. Ponyboy was back by then and he looked at me oddly. I guess he thought I'd already be gone. Two-Bit and Steve had already left, so now it was just Dally there. Dallas looked at me when I walked in and blushing with embarrassment, I began pulling the sleeves of my sweater down farther over my hands.

"It's 12:10." Soda told me because I was looking down, not wanting to make eye contact with Dally. "You wanna call home again." I looked up at him.

"Do you have another phone?" I asked, trying not to be loud. Soda just stared at me.

"Why?" He asked.

"Well…" I began. "They'll look at me." Again, Soda just stared at me. I didn't wait for him to say something like 'You're insane', or 'You need some mental help'. "I don't do good when people look at me. I don't like a lot of attention on myself."

Soda smiled an apologetic smile. I understood his glance.

"I have to use this phone don't I?"

"We only have another one, but it's in me and Pony's room."

"Alright, I'll suck it up and use this one." I said and walked over to the phone. Darry was sitting in the chair right by me and when I walked over, he looked up at me.

"I thought you left." He said. He sounded surprised.

"No one came." I replied embarrassed. "Could I borrow your phone again?"

He said nothing, but made a hand movement to say, 'It's-all-yours'.

I sat down by the phone and dialled. My mom answered this time. I asked her where she was and she told me she couldn't come get me because she had a drink not realizing that she had to pick me up. She asked if I could find my own way home and I said sure. Then we hung up.

Darry asked me if everything was alright, which surprised me. He didn't seem like the, 'tell-me-your-problems' kind of guy. I guess I must've sounded disappointed, but to tell you the truth I was. How can a mother have a drink because she didn't _realize _she had to pick up her _daughter_? I assured Darry that everything was fine and then walked back outside because Soda was on the porch.

"I'm really sorry Soda." I said.

"Why?" He asked.

"Because of my mother. She didn't realize she had to pick me up." Why me?

"It's no problem. Is she coming now?"

I knew this question was coming. "Well, when she didn't realize she had to pick me up, she had a drink so now she can't come pick me up and I don't want to be a bother and get someone to drive me. God I'm sorry." I began walking away.

"Laurie, come back here." Soda commanded. I did as I was told and went back.

"You're not bein' a bother. I'll drive you home." He said.

"Thanks." I said.

Soda and I went back inside. I said thanks to Darry for putting up with me and said bye just in general.

We got into the truck and Soda started it up. Once he put his foot on the gas pedal, I held on for my dear life. I directed him to where I lived and when I wasn't telling him where to turn, I was praying for my life.

When we pulled up in front of my house, I just sat in the car for a moment.

"You got a nice house." He complimented.

"Thanks." I said breathing heavily.

"You okay?" Soda asked.

"Oh, just fine. Geez Soda, you drive like a mad man." He laughed when I said this. I laughed too, but then I became serious. "Thanks, Soda. For everything. The movie, the introductions, everything. You've been really nice to me, and I really appreciate it."

"Hey, it's no problem. Like I said, I've never met a girl like you, and that's somethin'." I smiled when he said this. Then I said bye and got out. _What a night._

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Kay so that was chapter 9. Thanks so much for the reviews! Please keep them coming!


	10. Chapter 10

Kay so this is my chapter it took so long though, but you know, exams that sorta thing. and then i was just busy. But I'm updating now so yay! Read on! =)

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**Chapter 10**

I walked in the door and just thought about that night for a moment. Then I realized that my parents, aunt, uncle and cousin, were looking at me. I smiled lightly.

"Hi, everyone. I'm home." I pointed out the obvious.

"I'm so sorry Laurie. I'm such a bad mother for forgetting." My mom apologized.

"Mom, it's fine really, I just got a ride with my friend." I couldn't bring myself to say Soda's name in front of Bob, I was afraid he would know who I was talking about. I knew I shouldn't care what Bob thought, but I couldn't help it. I cared too much about what other people thought. "Anyways," I yawned. "I think I'm gonna go to bed, I'm tired. Night." I kind of waved weakly and made my way up the stairs.

When I was in my room I closed the door and lay down on my bed, taking in the night.

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That weekend I tried not to think about Friday night. The key word there is _tried. _Apparently, it didn't work very well because every two seconds, that night came into mind. It just kept replaying inside my head. I had tried to read, tried watching TV, I even tried cleaning to get my mind off it. But there was no way in hell I was going to forget about it, and it was killing me.

_I don't know what my problem is. Sure, he said that he's never met anyone like me, but that doesn't mean anything. That could mean just as a friend. I mean, come on, a guy like him, like me? There's a better chance of the world becoming flat than him actually _liking _me. But I bet you he does like me, just not the way I would like him to. Yep, I bet that's the case, sure he may like me but only as a friend and with him I think I'd kinda like to be more. Who am I kidding? I'm getting way ahead of myself. _

These thoughts drowned out the rest of them. I couldn't stop thinking about everything. God, I worried too much.

When Monday came, I was surprisingly excited to go to school. I just wanted to see my friends. _Wow, _I thought, _that was the first time I called them my friends. _I did my morning routine like usual and then went downstairs to wait for Bob. He came at his usual time and when he knocked on the door I answered it was a huge smile.

"Hey!" I exclaimed.

He just looked at me kind of sternly. _What flew up his butt? _"Let's go," He said plainly. He walked towards the car and I just stood there staring at him for a moment and then followed him. I sat in the car and after about a minute (yes I'm impatient) I couldn't take it any longer.

"So, are we picking up Randy again?" I asked trying to create conversation.

He just continued driving silently. I stared at him waiting for an answer. "Yep." He stated. _Well, how rude. What did I do to him that's making him act all hissy at me? _I decided to give up talking to him. When we picked up Randy, he looked at me as he was getting into the car. And it wasn't a 'how-you-doing?' kind of look. Then again, I couldn't really tell what it was seeing as I hardly knew the boy.

When we arrived at school, Bob got out of the car and immediately walked away. He usually made some sort of acknowledgement of leaving, but today was different. _What _was_ his problem?_

I ignored it –kind of—and went to my locker, got my stuff and headed to the caf. I found Karen and went to sit with her. I talked with her and her friends until the bell rang and then I made my way up to English class. I sat in my usual spot, took my books out of my bag and put them on my desk. I didn't hear any of the announcements that day and it wasn't because I tuned them out either, it was because I kept thinking about how Bob acted. It was so unlike him. Apparently, though I _had_ tuned Soda and the teacher out because I was getting nudged in the elbow.

"What?" I looked up and found everyone's eyes on me.

"Miss. Danning, are you having trouble paying attention in my class?" The teacher asked. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to answer or not, but then he raised his eyebrow, I guess to show he was waiting.

"Sorry." I mumbled.

He gave me a stern look and continued with whatever he was saying. I put my head in my hand and tried to pay attention. The teacher gave us some work and once he sat down, we all immediately started talking.

"You alright?" Soda asked looking at me concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I told him. I don't think he really believed me, so I tried to make a joke out of it to make him believe I wasn't lying. "Just being my regular self, you know, daydreaming 24/7," I said with a weak laugh. He just looked at me. I stopped laughing. "Okay so I got a lot on my mind." Then I smiled innocently. He laughed. _Finally._

By the time class ended I felt like nothing had happened between Bob and me. I didn't know why I was so worried in the first place. I mean, it's Bob; he's so difficult sometimes, but whatever. He'd get over it. Whatever _it _was. At least I hoped he would. As much as he did annoy me at times, he was still my cousin and I couldn't just _not _care.

I went to math and it was boring as usual, but I was so proud of myself. I was focused on my work and not Soda or Bob or anything for once! When the class ended, I went to grab my books off my desk but the girl that sat beside me decided she wanted to push them off. What did I ever do to her? I glared at her as she was walking away and then picked my stuff up off the floor. I stuffed my books into my bag and then walked out of the room.

"Oh my God!" I said, noticed that I had ran into someone. "Geez Soda, you always do that to me. Do you enjoy scaring the crap outta me?" He laughed as I said this so I guess he did enjoy that.

"I was wonderin' if you wanted to come to lunch with me and my buddies again." He said.

"Yeah, I'd like that, just let me go to my locker first." We went to my locker and then went to the same tree as before. Everyone was already there so we didn't have to wait.

"Laurie, you still hangin' 'round this bum?" Two-Bit joked as I came over.

I tried to think of a good retort but I couldn't so I just laughed. I said hi to Ponyboy and acknowledged Steve, and we were on our way. We did the same thing as we did the last time we went for lunch, went to a variety store and just stood around talking. I was really into the conversation. I actually talked to Steve this time too. It turns out he's not really loud or obnoxious, just, himself I guess. Either way, my assumption of him before was now entirely changed.

We walked back to the school and then departed. Soda walked me to my locker and I got my stuff. The end of the day came quickly and I walked out of the school with Soda as always. We said our goodbyes and then I went to Bob's car. He was standing outside waiting.

"Hey," I said with a smile.

"We need to talk." He looked like he had no emotions.

"Okay." We got into the car and just sat for a minute.

"I've been hearing things." He began. "Things about you."

"What about me?" I asked in confusion.

"My friends've been tellin' me that you've been hanging with a greaser. A lot of them." I looked at Bob. His eyes were cold and filled with hate. I couldn't bring myself to say anything. He wasn't going to let up on this so easily though. "Well?" He asked after I was silent for so long.

"Well what?" I managed to say.

"Is it true?" He asked.

I took in a deep breath, thought about what I was going to say, and then sighed. "No, I haven't been hangin' with 'greasers', I was hangin' with my _friends._" I told him.

He stared at me with confusion. "What the hell is that even supposed to mean?" He sounded angry.

"They may be greasers to you, but to me they're friends." I defended them. Bob made a little huffing noise.

"Well I don't like my cousin hangin' with trash, so either you stop hangin' out with them, or I make it so you can never see them again."

"Oh, and what are you going to do if I refuse?" I folded my arms defensively.

Bob didn't give an answer just yet. He gave a mischievously evil grin. "I'll get rid of your little buddy friends. Especially that one you always hang around. The one that's in two of your classes?"

I let out a little gasp. He knew about Soda. I couldn't let Soda get hurt, I just couldn't. Not after how nice he'd been to me. I knew what I had to do next, but I just didn't want to do it. I took in a deep breath. "Alright. I'll stop talking to them, hanging out with them. Everything. But you _cannot _hurt them or do _anything_ thing to them at all. Ok? Just leave them alone. You win, I'll stop. Now just take me the hell home or I'll walk." I hated myself so much. I should've known that he'd find out soon though. They were going to hate me. All of them. Hell, I hated me. Bob had a smile on his face like he'd finished some important job. He was proud of himself. He made me sick.

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So that was chapter 10. Again, sorry it took so long. Please REVIEW!


	11. Chapter 11

So this is my Chapter 11. Sorry it took so long to put it up, but I was working on another story for fictionpress (there's info about it in my profile if you're interested). Personally I think I've written better chapters, but I don't it's so horrible you would like throw it in a fire or anything. Anyways, read away =)**

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**Chapter 11**

I woke up the next morning sick to my stomach. I didn't want to go to school, or any other place for that matter. I just wanted to stay in my room, under the covers and sleeping. With my favourite stuffed animal of course. I decided to wait in bed and hope my mom wouldn't realize, but she doesn't skip a beat, so she did notice.

"Mom, I don't wanna go to school!" I complained. "Please let me stay home!"

"Laurie, you look fine." She looked at me. Then she sternly said, "You're going to school."

Ugh! Well fine if she wanted to be like that I would just fail al of my classes. Oh that's right, I would. Okay, no I actually wouldn't. I couldn't do badly in school. I've always been like that. I _had _to have good marks.

Anyways I after I got out of bed – I had to force myself to get up – I got dressed brushed my teeth, the regular morning things. Then I went downstairs.

"Dad, are you working today?" I asked him in hope.

"Yes, why wouldn't I?" He looked confused by my question.

"I just don't want to be a bother to Bob that's all, so I thought that if you didn't need the car, I thought maybe I could use it." I stated.

He looked at me like I was insane. "Honey, Bob is your cousin. You can't _bother_ family."

"He bothers me." I mumbled.

"What was that?" My mother asked.

"Nothing," I said quickly and then rushed for the door since there was a knock. "Bye mom, bye dad!" I exclaimed as I ran towards the door. My stomach tightened as I opened it. Bob had a smirk on his face.

"Hi there little cousin," he said with his evil grin and his evil face and everything else that was just evil about him.

"Burn in hell," I said in a smile like his. But there was nothing funny, happy, or joking about what I said. I meant it completely.

I think he thought I was joking for some reason because I heard him snickering behind me. I whipped my head around and gave him a fierce glare. He smile faded instantly.

"What?" He sounded so innocent, like he had no idea what was going on. God he was _so _stupid!

"You know perfectly well what I'm talking about." I wanted to shout but instead talked in a low growl-ish whisper.

"I honestly have no idea what you're talkin' about."

"Ugh!" I stomped to the car and when I was in, I slammed the door. Hard.

"Would you watch the doors?" Bob said when he got in. You could tell he wasn't impressed by my actions. Good, he shouldn't be.

Still, I gave him a little snorting noise and looked out the window.

As usual, we picked up Randy. He attempted to say hello to me, but I figured he was one of the people that told Bob about Soda and his friends, so I totally ignored him. He just gave me a look that said what-did-I-do-to-you? But I honestly didn't care.

When we got to the school, I got right out of the car and stormed off to my locker. As I was walking away I heard Randy ask Bob what my problem was. Bob just laugh his evil Muaha type thing. Okay, so it wasn't _exactly_ like Muaha, no one _actually _laughs like that, unless it's forced, or you're just a creeper.

Anyways, I really wanted to go back there and smack Randy just for saying something like that. And while I was over there, I wanted to smack Bob too, for being _happy_ about making my life a living hell. Oh yeah, I have a _great_ cousin. He should get a sticker. Not.

My mind was filled with thoughts that were from Sodapop, to Randy (EW) and to Bob. Or more like, how I'd like to torture Bob, (yes I'm violent, but with a cousin like him, who wouldn't be?). I couldn't get my locker open, but I really don't know why. I guess I just wasn't turning it the right way or stopping at the right spots. So I had to think about my combo. _Crap. _I thought. I didn't actually know my combination anymore. I just knew where to turn it. Well, that was helpful. I tried my locker again it (thankfully) opened. I didn't need a repeat of what happened before when I had to hit my locker. _Good times_. I made fun of myself.

I decided to go down the caf and see Karen. I thought it would be okay if I told her what happened because I didn't think she would tell anyone. Or maybe I could just pretend nothing happened. That could also work. Besides she always made me feel better without even knowing that she did.

When I got to the caf I found Karen where she usually was. At the far right table with her friends. I walked up to the table and was greeted by an ambush of hellos. I sat beside Karen like I always did when I sat with them, and immediately tried to figure out what they were talking about, which is easier said then done by the way. They always jumped from one topic to another in a matter of seconds. I caught the words 'guy' and 'hot' then all I heard was 'J-ELLO' and 'a sofa'.

"What about J-ELLO and a sofa?" I asked entirely shocked.

They all burst out laughing. "We didn't say J-ELLO and a sofa; we said his mom has an obsession with their _yellow _sofa." Karen's friend Natalie said.

"Oh, that makes more sense." I agreed and began laughing as well.

The time flew by so fast that I almost jumped when the bell rang to begin school. We said our goodbye's to each other and went our separate ways. That's when I started to worry again. I had Soda in my class. I was supposed to ignore him. What was he going to say when I didn't talk to him? I would feel horrible. _Would you rather be the reason he gets beat up? Or worse? _A voice said in my head. I mentally shook my head and decided this was the best thing I could do.

I opened the door to my English class and went to the back of the room to my assigned desk. Like always, I brought my books out and when Soda came in, I began reading my homework like it was the most interesting thing in the world. Unfortunately, it was the most boring thing I have ever read in my life.

"Hey Laurie." Soda said as he sat down.

I didn't make a sound. I didn't even look up to acknowledge his existence.

"Laurie?" He nudged me. I just shifted away from him.

_I'm sorry Sodapop! _I tried to make him here me. I wanted him to here me. _This is for your own good! Please believe me!_ I wanted to scream. My heart hurt from the obvious hurt tone.

"Did I do something?" He asked trying to make sense of all this.

I knew what I had to do after class. I couldn't just sit here and let him be ignored. I was going to ask the teacher if I could be moved. Ugh I hated my life.

I just kept my head down and blinked back the tears I had in my eyes. He was going to hate me. God! I hated me.

Class passed quickly and as soon as the bell rang, Soda waited a minute. I could feel his eyes burning through me. He left finally and I think he was angry, but who wouldn't be? I walked up to the teacher's desk.

"Yes?" He looked up at me.

"Can I have a seat change?" I blurted. _Yeah, nice approach._ I thought sarcastically to myself.

"Why?" He asked. What was it with one word statements?

"Please don't make me explain." I complained.

He cocked an eyebrow at me.

"I just can't sit beside Soda anymore. It's for his own good." I explained.

"I'm sorry but you're just going to have to stay there. If you get a seat change, then everyone will want one. You're just going to have to put up with sitting there."

I didn't even bother to say anything. I just left while rolling my eyes.

Great. I went to my next class. Again it passed quickly. But this time it was a better quick. It was because I was with Karen. She was so amusing.

Karen and I left the drama room together and were stopped by someone no other than Two-Bit.

"Hey Laurie." He said with his normal cheery-ness.

"Hey." I said dully.

Karen just looked at me as if to say 'introduce me'.

"Karen this is Two-Bit. Two-Bit, Karen."

"Hey." Two-Bit directed his hello to Karen. "Come on Laurie, let's go for lunch. Your friend can come too."

Great, I knew this was coming. "Uh, I'm actually not coming for lunch." I tried to say it as nicely as possible.

"Laurie!" I heard someone call my name.

I turned quickly to see Bob. I looked back at Two-Bit. "Look I'm not coming for lunch. I can't."

Two-Bit looked confused and then suddenly became angry. Bob was suddenly right by my side. "Is this greaser buggin' you?"

"No-" I was cut off.

"Get outta here." Two-Bit said, and it sounded like he was standing his ground.

Bob was getting frustrated, I could tell by his breathing.

"You better watch it greaser or-" Bob began but I cut him off.

"NO! He's not bugging me. Just go!" I said quickly not wanting a fight breaking out. Two-Bit stared at me like he had no idea what was going on.

"Did you forget our deal?" Bob asked me.

"What deal Laurie?" Two-Bit asked.

"Nothing!" I screamed at Two-Bit not meaning to though. I glared such a mean glare at Bob and then turned my attention to Karen. "Let's go." I said grabbing her arm. Once we were out of everyone's view, I began crying. I collapsed against a wall and Karen sat by my side. I told her everything.

Karen just let me cry and comforted me. She told me I had to figure out what to do. But she said she'd help me. I knew moving here was a bad idea.

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So that was chapter 11. Please review. All my reviews are SOO MUCH appreciated! Thanks so much everyone! Please be nice with reviews! Constructive Critisicm (sp?) is welcome!


	12. Chapter 12

Alrighty, chapter 12 here. I am so SORRY that it has taken so long for me to update. Please look at my profile for info about why i haven't updated for so long and why I might not update for a little while longer. I had something planned for this chapter on my actual computer but seeing as i can't use it right now, i couldn't get to it and i couldn't remember it so i just put this instead. I really hope you guys like it because i just wrote this because i needed to write and i really wanted to update. REad away =)

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Chapter 12

Alright, so I basically figured out that I wanted to die. But I'm pretty sure I already made that clear, but still. Karen and I sat there talking practically the whole lunch. Granted my part was more crying, but Karen talked. Or more like ordered. She was telling me that things needed to be sorted out with Sodapop. This, let me tell you, will be a lot harder than it looks.

"Look, I told you, I can't talk to Soda! Bob would probably kill me…or Soda." I told Karen after she told me to tell Sodapop what was going on.

"Well, you need him to find out what's going on somehow. I mean, why can't you just talk to him in secret? He's in what, two of your classes?" Karen suggested.

"I just…I don't want him to get hurt."

"He's getting hurt either way." Karen told me.

That's when I knew that she was right. We're supposed to be friends and now I'm just ignoring him. What kind of a friend does that? He was obviously hurt this morning. But I just couldn't bring myself to tell him anything yet.

So I told Karen that it wasn't time yet. I told her that when Bob's whole 'OMG! No talking to greasers' thing I'd talk to Sodapop. Until then, it was going to be silent.

Yes, Soda was going to get mad at me. Yes, it might ruin our friendship, but isn't it better this way rather than me talking to him and possibly endangering his well-being?

Karen agreed that though this plan wasn't the greatest, it was probably the safest. But only for Soda that is. I was already in pain.

Anyways, after lunch I went to math, which I must say, bored me to tears. It gave me too much time to think because I wasn't exactly paying attention. Not that there was much going on anyways, I mean, come on, it was a work period. I began to worry about what was going to happen in science. Oh I hoped he wouldn't hate me.

The bell rang and we were dismissed from math. I went to science, but I kind of took my time. Anyways, I went to my seat when I finally got to class. Once I sat down the bell rang. I noticed that Soda wasn't there yet. _What if he was so mad at me that he skipped? _The thought alerted my brain. I went into panic mode.

_No calm down! He's probably just late. Relax. _I thought. But the thing was, I couldn't relax, because it was ten minutes into the class and still _no Sodapop_!

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Class ended and there was no sign of Sodapop's existence. I wanted to cry. I almost did to. Who was I to think that he would just understand after totally ignoring him? If it happened to me and the person tried to explain, I wouldn't want to listen.

To be honest, I really wanted to walk home. Not only would it get my mind off things (distractions are wonderful things) but I would also be away from Bob. But was I was beginning to walk down the street, Bob stopped me.

"Where are you going? The car is this way." Bob pointed out like I was stupid.

"Thank you, Genius." I stated sarcastically.

Bob looked at me rudely but I shrugged it off. The less time I had to look at that ugly face of his, the better.

I opened the door and found my spot was taken. I cocked an eyebrow at Randy.

"What?" He questioned.

"Are you gonna move?" I asked not caring how rude I was being.

"Who's gonna make me, your greasy friends?" Randy smirked.

I gasped. "It was you wasn't it?" I was getting really mad now.

"What that told Bob about you hangin' with greasers? No, but I saw it a coupla times. But why would you wanna hang out with that trash anyways?" Randy questioned.

I was just about to tell him that he was the trash and at least my friends weren't stupid and ugly and ape-like, but Bob came over and was all 'Laurie just sit in the back', so I told Bob to bite me instead.

When I was dropped off Bob got out of the car for some reason. Randy did as well. I stopped in front of the door and looked at them.

"Can I help you?" I asked really wanting them to leave.

"Didn't your mom tell you, Randy and I are coming for dinner because my parents are busy. So we'll be at your house for a while."

I glared at him. I whipped open the door and stormed up to my room. I slammed my door, threw myself onto my bed and screamed into my pillow. The next thing I knew I heard my mom running upstairs and opened my door.

"LAURIE?! ARE YOU OKAY?!" She asked out of breath.

"Yeah mom, I'm fine." I stated dully.

"What was with the screaming then?" She questioned me.

"Rough day."

"Well why don't you talk to Bob about it?"

"Mom, Bob is the last person I want to talk to."

"Oh sweetie, did you too have a fight?" My mom put her hand on my knee as if to comfort me.

"Sure mom." It was better if she didn't know anything.

"I'm sorry, I guess I should've told you that Bob was coming over then, huh honey?" My mom was being all sweet now, but I still really wanted her to leave.

"It's okay mom. I'll be fine." My mom just looked at me sadly then left.

I took out my homework and started working on it There was no way I was going downstairs.

When dinner came around I had to go downstairs. I was really quiet though. My dad was surprised, but I kept to myself. When I finished eating, I took my plate to the kitchen then went back to my room.

Since I finished my homework, like, right before my mom called for dinner, I grabbed a random book and started to read.

There was a soft knock at my door after I read a couple of chapters. I was tempted to say 'get lost' but I thought otherwise just incase it was my parents.

"Yeah?" I said.

Bob opened the door and poked his head in. I let out a frustrated sigh. "Ugh, get lost!" I warned.

"Would you quit it for a minute?" Bob looked kind of angry with me. "What was with you hangin' with those greasers again at lunch?"

"What's it to you?" I suddenly became very brave to stand up to him like that.

"I thought we had a little deal? You don't want your greasy boyfriend to get hurt do you?" He threatened.

"Look, I wasn't going to hang out with them. Since you love to be such a creeper, why don't you listen to my conversation next time? You would've heard me say I wasn't going to lunch with them." I told him snottily.

"Alright, well remember this. This is your last warning. If I see you with them again, there's gonna be trouble, got it?" He narrowed his eyes at me.

I couldn't make words come out of my mouth so I just nodded and Bob left. I was going to have to be more careful. I think Karen is right. I needed to let the guys know what was going on or there would be big trouble, and it'll be all my fault.

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So that was chapter 12. Please review, and don't forget, check out my profile for my updating news. If i don't update for awhile please check my profile because i'll say why on that. I hope you liked the chapter! =) *reviews* =)


	13. Chapter 13

It's been a while since I've updating so I'm sorry for the delay. Here's chapter 13. I really hope you like it!**

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**Chapter 13**

Okay, well I officially hate Bob. I knew I had to do something but what that something was, I wasn't sure yet. I sat in my room and tried to sleep but I couldn't, so I started planning. This is what I came up with:

I was going to go to school tomorrow, and in first period, I was going to tell Sodapop everything that was going on. I was sure he'd understand. He needed to know and I'm sure he'll agree that this is the best thing to happen.

I just hopped my plan would work. After I assured myself that my plan would work, I finally got some sleep.

The next morning I woke up and I felt sick to my stomach. I slowly got changed not wanting to upset my stomach even more and then cautiously went down the stairs. I decided it would be smarter if I didn't eat breakfast so I just sipped a glass of water to try to smooth my gut. I impatiently waited for Bob to come. And when I finally heard a knock at the door, I said quick goodbyes and then bolted to the door. I practically ran to the side of the car, not wanting to talk to Bob. I hoped he got his face smacked into a big steel thing. Although it probably wouldn't do much damage. A face that ugly couldn't get any uglier.

We picked up Randy as usual but this time we took longer to get to school. I think Bob knew I was anxious so he wanted to torment me. I looked at his speed and it was the slowest I've ever seen him go. When I looked over at him to bug him, I noticed he was looking at me.

"What?" I demanded.

"Annoyed?" He smirked.

"Ugh, you are such an ass."

"Hey, watch it, or I'll—" Bob was cut off by me.

"Or you'll what? Go tell my mom that I said ass? Ooh, I'm shivering with fear." I was not in the mood for his antics.

"Hey, if you don't watch your mouth your little friends are gonna get themselves into a lot of trouble." Bob threatened.

I shut my mouth after that. He played dirty and he knew he was winning. Well let's just see who wins when I tell the guys what's going on and then they kick your face in.

I went to my locker quickly because since Mr. I-want-to-piss-off-Laurie decided to go so slow, we only had like five minutes before the first bell rang. I was just closing my locker when the warning bell rang. I hurried up to my class and sat in my chair. I was waiting anxiously for Sodapop to come in. The only problem, he never did.

I swear, I could have cried. Was he so mad at me that he couldn't come to school because he couldn't stand to see the sight of my face? What was I going to do if he didn't come to school? How was I going to explain to him what's going on if he didn't even come to school? _Come down, _I thought. _He'll probably come for the second half of the day. Just relax._

The rest of the day I kept looking around and over my shoulder to see if he was there at all. At lunch I didn't see him with his group of friends. I told Karen about everything and she told me I had to figure out a way to talk to him somehow.

I wanted him to be in class in last period. I begged in my head. But as last period came around, no Sodapop at all. That was when I decided it was time to make a deal with myself.

If Sodapop is not at school tomorrow, I will personally go over to his house and talk to him myself. He deserves to know the truth. Let's just hope he doesn't hate me for it, that is, assuming he doesn't _already_ hate me.

Bob drove me home and thankfully he didn't come in this time. I went to my room immediately and did my homework. I only came down for dinner and then I went back to my room and tried to prepare myself for another day.

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This is it. This is the day Soda finds out about the truth. Whether I had to force it upon him or not. Today at least I didn't have the nauseous feeling.

I took a shower and got dressed and finished my normal routine. Today I decided I should have breakfast, but I didn't want to eat too much just incase the nausea came back. So I just grabbed a banana. I washed it down with some orange juice just in time for Bob to come knocking at the door.

I was so prepared for today. I knew exactly what I was going to say. And if he wasn't here (which I hoped he would be) I knew exactly what I was going to do. I was in the caf with Karen and I told her my plan. She thought it was a good idea and she said she'd make sure that I would follow through just incase Soda didn't show up. In other words, if Soda wasn't at school, she was coming with me.

The bell rang and I made my way up slowly. I was scared to see if he was going to be in class. Something was telling me he wasn't going to be there. Sure enough when I walked in, he wasn't there. _Give him time. He's been late before. _Of course he wasn't late, unless you consider not going to class late. It hit me then, that this meant I would have to go to the Curtis' house tonight. Along with Karen. That will be one awkward conversation.

Lunch came around and I told Karen she had better cancel all plans for tonight because she had to come with me. Then I found Bob and I told him I didn't need a ride home because I was going to friend's house to work on a project. He looked skeptical but he left my excuse alone.

I was hoping Soda would be there in fifth period, but like his other classes, he didn't' come. _Maybe he's sick…_I thought. But then I thought it was too much of a coincidence.

I was on my way to Karen's car when I ran into Two-Bit.

"Hey Laurie." Two-Bit said coming towards me.

"Two-Bit, I can't talk to you here." I tried to explain. He looked at me confused. "Look, just go home with Ponyboy; I'm going to his house right now. I'll explain everything there." I told him that and walked away.

Karen was already at her car when I got there. I told her what happened. She told me that I needed to get this mess sorted out now.

I gave her directions to their house and when we reached there, she cut the engine. "I'll stay here." Karen told me.

"You sure you don't wanna come in?" I offered.

"Laurie, you need to do this on your own." She said.

"Fine." I muttered and got out of the car.

Before I walked through the gate, I took a deep breath and then began. I marched up the front door and knocked. And doesn't Sodapop open the door.

"Laurie," He said dully. _Yeah, he hates me. _I thought.

"Hi, Soda," I said. He just looked at me as if he was waiting to know the purpose of my being there on his front porch. "I need to talk to you."

"Right, now you wanna talk to me." He sounded angry.

"Huh?" I was confused.

"Two days ago you were ignorin' me like I wasn't there, and now you wanna talk?"

"Soda, it's not like I didn't want to talk to you. Would you just let me explain?"

"Fine." Soda came out onto the porch.

I took a deep breath. "Okay, you know the whole Soc vs. Greaser thing?" I began.

"Yeah."

"Well, I'm kinda in the middle of that." I told Soda as he just stared blankly at me. "I know, it's confusing. My cousin happens to be Bob Sheldon, I don't know if you know him or not but–" I was cut off.

"Let me guess he doesn't want you talking to me and you listened to him." Soda suggested.

"Kinda, but—"

"I thought you said you were different. You said no matter what you wouldn't stop talking to me. Especially because of what I am." Soda sounded hurt now.

"Would you let me speak?" I demanded. He looked taken back because of my sudden outburst. "I know I said that. But if you honestly think that just because he said I can't talk to you, I would listen, then you don't know me at all. You said it yourself, I'm different. You wanna know the real reason I didn't talk to you?" He said nothing. "Because he told me that if I talked to you, you would get hurt. Do you think I wanted that?" My eyes were tearing up. "So I'm sorry if I offended you, but I just couldn't let you get hurt." I apologized sincerely. I took a moment to breathe as he just looked at me. "Kay, I need you to tell the guys what happened because I don't think I can say it again." He nodded. "I think I'll go now." I began walking away.

"Laurie wait." Soda said.

"What?" I turned back around to him.

He came down to my level and looked into my tear-filled eyes. One tear snuck past and trickled down my cheek. He gently brushed it away with his thumb. "You don't need to worry 'bout me gettin' hurt." He told me. I was about to say something but he kept talking. "I feel stupid now. I shoulda known that you wouldn't do somethin' like that."

This time I made sure I was able to say what I wanted. "Soda, don't blame yourself. I should've told you. I'm sorry." I faced my head towards the ground. More tears were going to come out, I could feel it.

Just as I was about to walk away, Soda put his hand under my chin and gently lifted my head so that my eyes met his. "I forgive you if you forgive me." Soda suggested and I nodded. His face slowly came closer to mine and when we were close enough, he kissed me softly.

When he lifted he lips off mine he smiled a very cute smile that I couldn't help but smile back to.

The rest of the guys were coming down the street now and they as they approached they just kind of looked at us because Soda and I were just looking at each other. We then snapped out of our trance and so the guys felt it safe to come over and join us.

"So, are you gonna tell me what's goin' on?" Two-Bit asked.

"Uh, actually Soda's gonna do the honors 'cause I need to go." I explained.

"You're not stayin'?" Soda asked in confusion.

"Wish I could, but Karen's here and I kinda need to get home." I told them all. I said goodbye to the guys but pulled Soda along with me.

"What are we gonna do about the whole Bob thing?" I asked when we were out of earshot.

"We'll think of something." He told me.

"But Soda, I mean, what if he decides to have some gang fight thing? Then what are we gonna do?" I was panicking.

"Laurie, we know how to fight and as long as there's no weapons, it'll be fine." Soda was trying to calm me but it wasn't working.

"Weapons?!" I panicked even more.

"Relax." He smiled. "Nothin's gonna happen." He reassured me.

"Okay." I agreed reluctantly. He kissed me quickly and then I left to go back to the car.

When I sat down I had the hugest smile on my face.

"What?" Karen pressed for information.

"You are coming over and I am going to tell you _everything._" I told her.

I gave directions as she drove to my house. My lips felt tingly and I brought my hand to them as if I could still feel his lips on mine. _He kissed me! I can't believe he KISSED me! _

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So that was my chapter 13. I really hope you liked it. I also hope it was a good length, because I think this was one of my longer chapters. Please Review! All reviews have been much appriciated (I think i spelt that wrong but don't hold it agaisnt me, it's 2:00 in the morning) =P =D


	14. Chapter 14

I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in the longest time! I just never got around to it, but as you can see I finally have my 14th chapter *claps* yay! So read along and be glad! =D

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**Chapter 14**

"And then he kissed me!" I finished telling the story to Karen. She squealed in excitement for me.

"Laurie that's great! I knew you liked him!" Karen stated in an I-know-everything way.

I rolled my eyes and then got serious. "Bob's gonna find out."

"So?" Karen didn't seem to see my dilemma.

I sighed. "If he finds out then it's going to be fight city. Ugh, I don't even know why he has to treat me like that. He's not the boss of me. We aren't even that close!" I complained.

"Well Soda's cooler than Bob so Soda'll kick his ass." Karen said as I laughed.

"Yeah I guess but I just don't want a fight breaking out because of me, you know?" We sat in silence for a moment. I guessed it was because Karen didn't have a remark for what I said.

The topic of our conversation got changed eventually, but I couldn't stop thinking about it. I thought it would be better to kept it to myself though because I figured I shouldn't bug Karen with my problems. At these times I really wish I had my best friend with me. I got a bit quiet but I don't think Karen noticed and if she did she just ignored it.

Karen didn't want to stay for dinner because she didn't want to impose so she left at around 5:30. It was kind of depressing when she left because with her gone my mind would wonder way too far.

"Laurie!" My mom called from downstairs. As I was going down the first thing I noticed was a head and if wasn't a head that belonged to someone I live with.

"Here she is!" Bob called.

I almost fainted right there. I was so caught off-guard. I paused for a moment to redeem myself, took a deep breath and then continued down the stairs. Avoiding Bob and his evil glares, I went to find my mother.

"You called?" I asked when I found her in the kitchen.

"Could you set the table please sweetie?" She asked. I agreed automatically because she and my aunt had their hands full

I grabbed the utensils and made my way to the dining room. When I walked out Bob walked over to me. Why did my dad and uncle have to be outside?

Bob sat in a chair and smirked at me. But it wasn't the let's-joke-around smirk it was more of a I-feel-like-making-your-life-a-living-hell. He stared at me for so long it was really starting to piss me off.

"Would you stop looking at me?!" I snapped.

"Whoa, calm down little cousin." He laughed mockingly. "So, where'd you go to after school?"

"What's it to you?"

"I'm your cousin. I have a right to know."

"HA! Don't make me laugh Bob. You don't have a right to know my best friend. There's no way in hell that I'm gonna tell you that."

He looked at me as if a light went off in his head. "You went to see your greasy friends didn't you?"

"No I didn't." I tried to be calm and be convincing but I don't think it worked.

"You did! You really want those greasers to get hurt don't you?"

"No—" He cut me off.

"No Laurie! I've given you chances but now…this is it. I'm gonna settle this now!"

"NO! No Bob! Don't you dare do anything to them! Any of them! If you're going to do something, do it to me!" I pleaded.

He glared at me for a moment.

"Dinner's ready!" My mom said coming from the kitchen.

Bob and I glared at each other for a while longer then sat in our seats as my aunt went to get my dad and uncle.

Half way through dinner my aunt spoke up.

"Oh I have a lovely idea." She said. It was honestly the most random thing.

We all stared at her blankly. "Bob, why don't you take Laurie to a movie tonight?"

"Uh, I don't think that's the best—" I began.

"That's a great idea mom." Bob turned to smirk at me. He wasn't going to win that easily.

"I can't go, I have too much homework." I stated my case.

"Oh Laurie, do that tomorrow. You don't go out enough." My mom told me.

"But mom," I really didn't to beg in front of my family.

"Which are you going to choose Laurie?" Bob chimed in. That told me he had a plan.

"Alright, I'll go, but tomorrow I'll do my homework, with no interruptions." Okay, so apparently he _was _going to win that easily.

"We'll go to the drive in, it'll be fun." Bob said.

_Fun my ass._

"Laurie I just want you to do the dishes before you two go." My mom said as we were finishing up. Everyone started getting up and leaving to other rooms except for Bob.

"Alright, if you try one thing, I swear I'll—" I began.

"You'll what get your friends to hurt me? Laurie, come on it's just the drive in, what could happen there?" Bob asked.

But that was exactly the question. _What __could__happen at the drive in? _I thought to myself as I was doing the dishes. _Do even want to know the answer to that? _

I tried to take as long as possible but I was getting annoyed with myself. I was taking way too long. I was surprised Bob didn't barge in and be all 'that's it we're leaving'.

Bob was watching TV when I came out of the kitchen. "I'm just gonna go get ready." I told him.

He muttered in acknowledgement to my existence. I walked slowly up the stairs and went to my room. Looking in the mirror, I checked my outfit and hair as well as my face. _It'll have to do._ I thought. I scurried to the bathroom to brush my teeth quickly. I didn't want my breath to smell from just eating. When I was all done I went back downstairs.

"Are you all ready now?" Bob asked impatiently.

"Yeah," I stated dully.

We walked outside and he told his parents that he was taking the car. I said goodbye and then got in. I prayed silently that the night would go well, but with my luck lately, I doubted that it would.

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So that was the 14th chapter. I really hope you liked it. I think the next chapter is going to be the end of my story but I'm not quiet sure yet. Anyways I'll try to update quicker this time. All the reviews I have gotten have been amazing (except for one*ahem FLAMER!*) so please, please PLEASE review!

*Note: If there's going to be a delay with the story I'll write it on my profile so if you want updates check there*


	15. Chapter 15

Alrighty Chapter 15 here we come! I honestly thought this was going to be the last chapter but it's not. and for those of you who want this story to end well, I'm sorry to disappoint. Sorry it took so long to update but I was stuck. Clearly though, I'm not now. So sorry for the long wait but I hope this chapter makes up for it.

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**Chapter 15**

The drive to the movies was almost unbearable. I could practically hear all the evil thoughts going through Bob's mind. I'd bet all the money in the world that his life goal was to make my life a living hell.

"So Laurie," Bob began. "What movie do you want to see?"

I turned to glare at him. Arms crossed I gave him the look that I didn't care.

"Guess it doesn't matter anyway, we'll see whatever's there." Bob said.

"I'm invigorated, really I am." I stated dully.

"You're a real pain you know that?"

"Oh, I'm the pain, have you looked at yourself lately?" I shook my head and looked out the window.

Bob's anger was flaring. I could hear his breathing get heavier. We stopped at a red light and Bob was still huffing and puffing from his anger when he suddenly pulled out a flask.

"Are you stupid?" I yelled at him.

He gave me a glare type smirk and took a big drink.

The light turned green and Bob sped off. When we reached the movie theater he parked it a spot that just 'happened' to be right near Randy's car. I got out of the car once it was stopped and I slammed the door.

"Hey, watch the door!" Bob yelled to me.

I ducked my head through the window, "Don't even talk to me! If you are going to be drinking then you can forget coming to find me to drive me home. I will not come. If you wanna get yourself killed from being drunk when you're driving, be my guest, but if you think I will get in the car with you like that, then you can just forget it."

I stormed away from the car and went to the chair section. I wasn't planning on watching the movie but I needed to sit somewhere to calm down. As I was sitting there, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

"I swear to God, if that's you Bob…" I began as I spun around but stopped when I saw someone who looked exactly like Dally. Of course if it wasn't him I didn't want to look stupid so I just stared at him for a moment. Yeah, I know, great way to avoid looking stupid. I'm a natural.

I blinked out of my trance and asked, "Can I help you?"

"Well aren't you feisty." He smirked, trying to look cool. It was definitely Dally.

"Dally?" I asked. It was the stupidest question.

"Hey Johnny, look she knows my name." Dallas mocked.

I rolled my eyes and turned around as I heard Johnny whisper to Dally, "Hey Dal, isn't she the girl Soda was with?"

I felt another tap on my shoulder and when I turned at automatically asked, "What now?"

"Are you the broad Soda was with?" Dally asked.

I huffed. "Okay, I'm not a "broad" I am a girl, so don't be demeaning. And yes, I'm the "girl" Soda was with, if you must know." Angry now, I turned back around.

There was silence behind me, I must have pissed off Dally or something but I suddenly heard Ponyboy's voice.

There were some whispers and then yet _another_ tap on my shoulder. This was becoming a very big nuisance.

"Would you leave me…hi Ponyboy." I changed what I was saying half-way through the sentence when I realized it was Pony who tapped me. I didn't think it was right if I snapped at Pony when this was only the first time he'd tapped me.

"Hey Laurie, why don't you sit back here with us?" Pony invited.

"No, I can't. I'm not staying." I told him.

"Come on," He insisted. "Soda'll come by later with Two-Bit." He tempted me.

I thought about it. "Alright." I said and began moving to the seats behind me.

I was still really tense from what had happened. I was also really jittery. "Pony," I whispered. "Do you have a smoke?"

Pony stared at me in aw. "I thought you didn't—"

I cut him off. "I do when I'm really stressed. And I am right now."

Pony handed me a weed and a light. "You wanna talk about it?"

I took a long drag. "You are so sweet you know that? You are so much like Soda."

He didn't really say anything to the compliment. But you could tell that it made him happy. He probably tried to hard to be like Soda.

The movie began but I could not tell you what was going on. There must be something wrong with me, I thought. I used to be able to go to a movie, talk throughout the entire film with my best friend and we'd both know exactly what was going on. Now if I had even one thing on my mind, I couldn't even remember the beginning title. I phased in and out at parts and I would try to decipher how long we'd been watching the movie. At one point I leaned over and asked Ponyboy but he just looked at me as if I thought he was a clock so I whispered never mind.

I couldn't believe my cousin would drink and drive. _Why do you care?_ I kept asking myself. _He's an ass to you and you know it. _As hard as I tried I just could not get over the fact that my cousin was so irresponsible. Even though I did hate him right now, he was still my cousin and I didn't want to see him get killed. I was so in depth in thought that when a figure sat down beside me I jumped practically into Pony's lap.

"Laurie, it's just me. Calm down," Soda said laughing at me.

"Yeah thanks, I can see that now." I joked back. Then I turned to Ponyboy. "Sorry." I whispered. He just shook his head in the I-have-no-idea-who-you-are kind of way.

"I didn't know you were going to be here." Soda said to me.

"Yeah well, it was kinda forced on me."

Soda gave me a puzzled look.

"Trust me, you really don't want to know."

Soda took that as the time to change the conversation which I was glad for. "So how's the movie?"

Of course he had to choose the one topic that I knew nothing about. "I'm not the best person to ask for that question." He just stared at me. "I've kinda been off in my own little world. Honestly, I don't even know what the movie's called."

"If you didn't wanna watch the movie why'd you stay?" He pressed.

"Well, Pony noticed me and told me to stay but I told him I didn't want to and then he told me that you were going to come so I decided to stay." I rushed towards the end embarrassed of what he'd think.

Of course, me being the self conscious person that I am, I thought he would laugh in my face, but instead he kissed me lightly. I let out a smile and tried not to let myself go beet red. I highly doubt that it actually worked.

We turned our attention to the movie though I paid no attention to it. Soda put his arm around me and after a short while he became fidgety. I noticed it and I looked at him. He noticed me looking and did his cocked eyebrow thing. I almost died. And I also forgot my reason for looking at him in the first place.

I finally remembered and I said to him, "Troubles sitting still?"

He kinda of laughed and then offered a suggestion. "Wanna go for a walk."

I nodded in agreement. "Yeah, anything's better than pretending to watch the movie."

Pony must've heard our conversation because he asked where we were going.

"We have to go for a walk, you're brother is incapable of sitting still." I laughed.

Soda grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. "I dunno if we'll come back here, if we don't, I'll see you back at home. Let Darry know too." Soda told Ponyboy who nodded. Soda and I walked out of the drive in hand-in-hand.

"So where are we gonna go?" I asked.

"I dunno, where do you wanna go?" He asked back.

I sighed. "The park." I suggested.

He didn't answer but he walked in the park's direction so I figured that where we were headed.

When we got there I let go of his hand and became a very big child. I went up on the jungle gym type thing and sat at the top, my feet swinging insanely. Soda walked up to the jungle gym and stood almost under me. I thanked the Lord that I was not wearing a skirt.

"Are you having fun?" Soda asked with a crazy grin on his face.

I nodded and kept swinging my feet. "I feel like a huge child." I told him.

"Are you gonna come down?" He asked me.

"Nope, you're gonna have o come up here."

Amazingly he mad his way up and sat beside me. I leaned back and looked up, gazing at the stars. "Wow." I let out.

Soda followed my gaze upwards. "Pony loves doing this." He said.

"And you don't?"

"I just don't get it like he does. Probably 'cause he's smarter than me."

"Soda, you don't need to be a genius to enjoy looking at the stars."

We locked eyes for the longest while and then I broke our trance.

"Can I ask you something?" I asked.

"Sure." He answered.

"How come you weren't in school those days? Was it because of me?"

"I was hopin' you weren't gonna ask this question."

"So it was because of me."

"No, but you aren't gonna see me in class anymore."

"Why?" I stared at me, anticipating his answer.

"I dropped out." He stated dully.

"What? Why?" I was shocked.

"Bills aren't getting paid. It was a waste of time for me to be in school anyways. I wasn't learnin' anything. So I dropped out to take on a full-time job to help Darry with the bills."

I couldn't believe this, Soda dropped out of school. I was going to be alone in some of my classes. But I guess I still had some of the guys…

"Are you mad at me?" He asked.

"It's not my decision that makes your life. Yeah I'm upset that I won't see you in school, but you did what you had to for your family. And I like that. You put your family first and that's sweet." I leaned into him and kissed him softly.

We stayed a while longer at the park and then Soda offered to walk me home. I told him it was far to walk and he just looked at me. "Exactly." He said.

He held my hand for part of the way. His hand soon found my shoulder and then my waist. He pulled me to him as we walked and I noticed that when he held me, even like this, I felt safe with him. Sure I'd had boyfriends before but I never felt safe like this. That's why when we came to the corner of my street I stopped and put my arms around his neck. I guessed that he knew what was coming because he kissed me passionately. He hands caressed my back and my fingers found their way in his hair. I was pressed against him and although everything was so intense, the kiss was softer than ever.

The kiss ended (too soon I might add) and he grabbed my hand to continue walking me home. When my drive-way came into view I froze. Bob had beat me back home and I was screwed.

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So I hope you liked the chapter. Please remember to review because they have been so GREAT! (minus one. *ahem* FLAMER) Anyways, I really hope you liked it, and I'll try to update sooner next time. =D


	16. Chapter 16

So this is the final chapter *tear* *tear* It's also the longest chapter. Read away!!

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Chapter 16

My heart went into panic mode. Soda stared at me, a confused expression on his face. What was I going to do? If Soda walked me right up to the door, Bob would see for sure, but if I sent him away then I'd feel bad. Bob was making my life so much harder than it already was. I stood there debating for a little while, off in my own world when Soda pulled me out of it. He was tugging on my arm.

"C'mon. Are we goin'?" Soda asked.

"Uhh…." I stuttered. I had to make a decision and I had to do it fast. I finally made up my mind. "Yeah, we're going." We walked together and I felt a sense of adrenaline rush through me. I knew though, that if I paused I wouldn't be able to go through with my plan.

We reached the door and I turned to face Soda. We stood there in silence for a moment. As usual, I was the one to break the silence.

"Thanks for walking me home." I told him.

"No problem." He smirked at me. I could have melted right there. He began leaning in for a kiss but as our lips were about to meet my mother whipped open the door.

"LAURIE DANNING WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" She shouted as I cringed back.

"Around," I said sheepishly.

"Get in the house RIGHT NOW!" She yelled sternly. It was then that she noticed that I wasn't alone. "Who's this?" She asked curiously.

"Mom, this is Sodapop. He's an, uh, friend." I rushed introductions. I looked past my mother and saw my dad sitting on the couch accompanied by my uncle. My heart lifted as I felt relieved. _Maybe Bob just dropped off the car and went off with his friends, _I hoped.

"Oh well, hello…um…Sodapop?" My mother struggled with his name. I wanted to laugh/apologize for my mother's behavior. She turned her attention back to me. "Well, what are you doing still standing out here?" She glared at me with a look so intense it bore into my soul.

"Can I at least say goodbye?" I asked hoping for all this to end.

My mom leaned against the door frame. "Go ahead."

I turned back to Soda and tried to send him a message through my expression. Either he understood or he just knew not to kiss me in front of my mother because he just stood there and said good night. I returned his good night and felt an immense urge to collapse in his arms. I knew I couldn't though.

"Good night Sodapop. Let's hope the next time we see you it isn't under such bad circumstances." My mother pulled me into the house and closed the door. I stared through the window beside the door and watched Soda walk down the path from the door. I watched until I could no longer see him. I sighed and hoped he wouldn't hold my mother's actions against me.

"Laurie," My mother began. "Why didn't you come home with your cousin? We've been worried sick."

I was about to answer but as I was about to say something I noticed that my father was also accompanied by Bob. My heart dropped. He saw and heard everything. Great.

"Laurie! Answer me. Why weren't you with your cousin?" My mother repeated.

"I found some friends. I just forgot to tell Bob that I was going to be with them." I looked apologetically to my mother and then turned my glance to Bob. My eyes were like daggers. I saw him look slightly shocked at my expression. "I'm sorry mom." I turned back to my mother.

"Don't do that again, do you hear me?" She pulled me into a hug.

"I won't." I meant it too.

She came out of the hug and gave me a look. "So, that boy Sodapop…" She dropped the words mid-sentence to promote her suggestion.

"Awh mom, please don't." I started walking away. Normally I wouldn't have minded, but it was the fact that Bob was there.

"Actually," Bob spoke up. "That guy's bad news. Laurie shouldn't be hangin' around him."

"No he's not. That's just what you and your little friends think. You don't even know him!" I was not in the mood for his antics. He wasn't going to win. Not this time.

"Sorry little cousin, but I think I know a bit more about the people around here. I've lived here longer." Bob stood up and walked in front of me.

"Really? Have you ever even _talked _to him?" I crossed my arms with attitude.

"No, but –"

"Oh, let me guess, rumors right?" Bob looked away. "Let me tell you something _cousin _rumors aren't true. Not about him. So why don't you take your little rumors and shove them up your—"

"LAURIE!" My mother cut in. I had completely forgot that we were having this debate in front of my family.

"I'm going to bed." I stated and went up to my room. I felt the urge to slam the door but thought against it. I was in enough trouble as it is. I threw myself onto my bed. I buried my head into my pillow almost as if believing that it would take my troubles away. I part of me hoped it would, but I knew that no matter how long I kept my head pushed into the pillow, it would not make anything better. A soft knock at the door was what made me bring my head out of my pillow.

"Go away." I mumbled.

The door opened anyways and I stuffed my head back into the pillow. I felt my mattress sink slightly as someone sat down. It was only when the person spoke that I figured out who it was.

"Your mom wants to know what got into you." Bob's voice increased my pulse as my anger rose.

My head shot out of my pillow and I turned to glare at Bob. "Get out of my room." I tried to say as calmly as I could.

"You really want those grease-heads to get hurt don't you? This is it Laurie, your chances are gone. This is gonna stop. You ain't hangin' around them anymore. I'm comin' into this."

"You've been in this since the start. You're the one making such a big deal out of this. And I honestly don't care what you say, you can't pick my friends!" My voice was starting to raise but I knew I couldn't get too loud or my mother would come up.

"No cousin of mine is gonna hang out with _greasers_." He said the word greasers in disgust. Like it was some sort of disease.

"Well then, I guess you just disowned me as a cousin. Now it's time for you to go." I glared at him more intensely. He returned the glare but – thankfully – stood up and left.

I shoved my face back into the pillow. I wanted to tear at something. I was so frustrated and I noticed that tears started trickling down my face. Great. _I hope Bob is happy. _I thought to myself. I changed out of my clothes and put on some pajamas. I lay down under my covers and found that I couldn't even reminisce about what happened between me and Sodapop because every time I thought of him, Bob jumped into my head. He was the last person I wanted to think of.

I eventually fell into a dreamless sleep and was awoken the next morning from a knock at my door. I grunted and struggled out of my bed. I whipped open the door and found myself squinting to see who it was. My eyes had not yet adjusted.

"Yeah?" I asked through a yawn.

"Get dressed and come downstairs." My mother's voice filled my ears. I nodded and closed the door. My eyes were still squinted and when I attempted to find my dresser, I ran into it.

"Ow! I found it. Stupid dresser," I said groggily.

I changed into the first thing I saw. I ran a brush through my hair and tied it back. I then slowly made my way down the stairs.

"Why'd you wake me up?" I asked, sitting down beside my father.

"We didn't want you sleeping until 4 you know." My father replied, not even looking up from the paper.

I sighed and played my fingers on the table. I waited a moment through the silence. "So there was actually no reason for waking me up?" I did not want to be awake.

My dad looked up from his paper finally. "Go for a walk or something. Make a day out of it. You aren't just going to sleep away the day."

I rolled my eyes once he looked back at his paper.

"Honey, Bob's coming by today if you want to hang around with him?" My mother suggested.

"Uh, thanks but I think I'm gonna go for a walk after all." I practically leapt out of the chair. I beat it out of the house and just started walking. I didn't care where I'd end up and I didn't care how long I was out.

I don't know how long I was gone for. I ended up at the park that Soda took me to last night. I sat on the jungle gym that I sat on the night before. I starred at the sky, but it was much harder to do today because the sun was so bright. I let my thoughts take wing into whatever they wanted and was startled with an ugly thought suddenly.

_What if Bob saw Soda at the gas station? Would he start something in public? Would he start something at all? _I stopped and rethought that. _Who am I kidding, or course he'll start something. _

I went into panic mode. What if Bob started a fight? But Soda had a lot of friends that would stay by him. And if his friends didn't, at least he had his brothers. But Bob had friends too. Why did I have to be in the middle of this? I decided to go by the DX to see if Soda was working. I figured he was, and if he wasn't I would just go by his house.

I tried not to think too much or I would end up getting lost. It was a bit of a walk and as I saw the DX in a distance and noticed that I was kind of thirsty. I decided that that would be my excuse for going to the gas station in the first place. Just to buy a drink. And if Soda wasn't there then I would buy a drink anyways.

I reached the DX and the first person I saw was Steve. He would think I was some sort of stalker that had to see Soda everyday when actually I was trying to help him, in a very pathetic kind of way. I walked up casually and hoped that Steve wouldn't notice me, but as I got closer to the little variety store attached to the gas station, my eyes caught Soda who seemed to have been hiding behind a car.

"Laurie, hey, gimme a sec!" Soda called over to me. I nodded and leaned against the wall.

He finished up with the customer and walked over to me. "What's up?" He asked.

"Oh, just came here to buy a drink." He didn't believe my lie, he gave me that cocked eyebrow look of his.

"You came all the way out here, to buy a drink?" He asked.

I gave him a sheepish grin. "I didn't say that was my _only _reason." I changed my tone, "I kinda need to talk to you."

Soda looked behind him at where the cars pulled up. "Can it wait, I've gotta finish my shift."

"When's it end?" I asked.

"At three."

"What time is it now?" I tried to look around for a clock. I hadn't put on a watch this morning.

Apparently he didn't know the time either because he called to Steve to ask.

"One forty-five buddy!" Steve shouted back.

"Alright, I guess it can wait." I looked down at my feet.

"Laurie, are you okay?" He brought my head up to look at his. I felt my face heat up. I was going red.

I shook my head and shrugged my shoulders all at once. "Just, be careful, okay?"

He gave me a puzzled glance and said slowly, "Okay."

Steve began to call Soda over so Soda rushed what he said. "Meet me here at three." He gave me a quick kiss and sprinted over to help the customers.

I thought it would be better if I didn't go home to waste time. So I just went back to the park, and sat back on that jungle gym. I lay back entirely on it and closed my eyes, but the sun still shone warmly on my face. It comforted me though. I had almost fallen asleep when I heard loud voices coming closer. I sat up quickly to find Two-Bit with Johnny and Ponyboy.

"Hey Laurie." Pony said to me.

I climbed down and brushed myself off just in case I had dirt on me. "Hey guys, what's up?"

"We're just taking a walk," Johnny explained.

"Wanna come?" Two-Bit offered. I was started to wonder when he was going to say something.

"Sure," I said without thinking. We started walking but then I remembered, "Do you guys have the time?"

Pony looked at his wrist. "It's two."

"Why got somewhere to be?" Two-Bit chimed in.

I laughed. "I'm meeting Soda at three."

"Oh!" Two-Bit winked to me. "You're meeting _Soda_."

I playfully glared at him. We walked around the town a bit just talking and laughing. It felt good though because I hadn't been able to laugh all morning. Not since what happened with Bob. But that's why I like the guys, they made me laugh (well most of them did) and I had fun with them.

At two forty Pony suggested we start walking to the DX. It got pretty far from the gas station, I didn't even know where we were. We stopped walking at a few points to laugh really hard at something Two-Bit said and by the time we got to the DX, Soda was just getting ready to leave.

"Aw, Laurie you brought these bums with you?" He joked.

"Yeah, well they followed me." I joked back. I looked at the guys' faces and Two-Bit had a fake hurt look. I smiled at him.

Steve came over and joined us so we started to leave. Soda fell into step with me. "So what'd you wanna talk about?"

I had actually forgotten about that, I didn't think it was possible but apparently it was. "I don't think right now is the best time." I whispered to him.

He nodded and reached for my hand, I took it without question. We walked with the guys for a while and then when we reached the Curtis' house, the guys went inside but Soda and I didn't.

"Let's go to the park." Soda suggested.

"Alright." I practically knew how to get there by heart now, this would be my third time there today.

"So, about what you wanted to talk about…" Soda prompted.

"Right. Um, I don't' really know how to put this." I scratched at my forehead. "My cousin, the one I told you about, he was at my house last night." I hoped Soda would catch on.

"So?" Clearly he didn't.

"_So_, he knows I was with you. Remember what I told you?"

Soda thought for a moment. He caught on finally.

I took that as my cue to continue. "Well he says I have no more chances and that he's gonna put an end to this. I tried to tell him he can't pick my friends but he won't listen. Now I don't know what he's planning or what he's gonna do. I just don't want any of you guys to get hurt." I spoke quickly to get it all out.

"Laurie," He said and stopped abruptly. "He's not gonna do anything, and if he does it won't matter as long as it's just skin against skin."

"What?" I panicked. "You're willing to _fight _him? No, no fights. I don't like fights. Not even if it's just 'skin against skin'." I shook my head.

"So you're gonna stop?" Soda asked curiously as if he didn't think I could, though I didn't think I could either.

"I'm not going to have to stop it, because there isn't going to be a fight," I said assertively.

I hoped Soda would agree and say 'Okay, no fights' but he never said it. He just continued walking. We reached the edge of the park and he paused again and looked at me. I didn't notice what he did at first. Then I saw it. A blue mustang was just sitting at the side of the road. Suddenly, three guys (all Socs) got out. Bob, Randy and another guy whom I didn't recognize.

"Soda, can we go please?" I asked urgently.

He didn't say anything back so I tried to walk away but he still had my hand, and he wasn't going anywhere. "Soda," I begged.

He had an angry face and as the Socs came closer, I felt him tense up. Bob came right up to Soda and me.

"Why do you keep harassing my little cousin greaser?" Bob asked with a glare. Randy and the other guy just stood beside him with their arms crossed. They had the same glares as Bob.

"Bob, go away." My voice hardly came out.

"Laurie, don't stand near that trash," Bob tried to pull me away but Soda wouldn't budge.

"I ain't the trash here. Laurie's not going with you," Soda said calmly but you could hear the anger in his voice.

"Oh," Bob had an evil grin on his face. "I think she is." Bob was about to take a swing at Soda when I stepped in between them.

"No! Bob, you are going to leave and I'm not coming with you! You can't live my life!" I found my voice and made sure you could here it this time.

"Laurie, get out of the way!" Bob hissed at me.

"Laurie, you're gonna get hurt standin' there." Soda told me softly but there was still a tinge of anger for Bob.

Without Soda keeping hold of me, I was caught off guard and pulled back by Randy. Bob took his chance and punched Sodapop right smack in the jaw.

"Stop!" I screamed from Randy's clutches.

Soda hit Bob back and when Bob recovered he made a bull charge for Soda and knocked him to the ground.

"BOB! Get OFF HIM!" I was still screaming, though clearly not being heard. I was too busy trying to fight off Randy that when I looked back at Soda and Bob, I noticed a third body, but it wasn't a Soc. It was Dally. I stopped fighting or a moment and noticed that I was being shoved to the other Soc that was there and Randy started in on the fight. I kicked the guy holding and he fell to the ground obviously not expecting my violent attack.

I ran over to Bob and Soda (who were now standing again thanks to Dally who pulled Bob off Soda) and went in between them again. I ducked just in time. If I would have stayed up a second longer Bob's fist would have hit my face. I put my hands on both their chests to push them farther away.

"STOP FIGHTING!" I yelled. Even Dally and Randy had stopped. But that could be because Dally had hit Randy to the ground. "JUST STOP, BOTH OF YOU!" I took a moment to breathe. "This fight is ending now! I don't care if I have to hit someone to do it. Bob, you are going to get lost and leave me alone. I don't care if you don't like them, because I do. I don't care what you think. But you are going to leave me along for once in your life." I turned to Soda. "You knew I didn't want you to fight. But you did it anyways." I shook my head. "I thought you actually cared about what I thought." I didn't give him a chance to say anything. I walked to Dally.

"Thanks for the help." I told him as he nodded. I walked away quickly then. I didn't hear any more punches being thrown so I thought that was a good sign. I did however hear footsteps coming at me. They came closer and closer until… Soda grabbed my arm and whipped me around.

"Laurie I do care about what you think, but I wasn't gonna let your cousin push you around." He looked at me sincerely. "I'm sorry."

"You should be." I put a hand on his cheek. "Don't do it again." I brought his face down to mine until his lips touched mine.

Bob stalked over to us. "I'm not happy about this." He glared at me. Then he turned to Soda, "If I see you, this'll happen again." He warned. "Don't think I'm okay with this, cause I'm not." He walked to the car and Randy and the other Soc followed.

Dally came over and started scolding Soda about starting a fight with the Socs without him. I laughed and we started walking back to the Curtis' house. When we told Darry what happened he wasn't too happy, but he was glad a blade wasn't pulled.

* * *

Things were a little different after that whole scene, though I didn't have Soda with me at school I still saw him everyday. He asked me to go steady with and I obviously said yes. On an even brighter side, Bob pretty much ignores me. It gets kind of awkward when our families get together to have dinner. Speaking of my family, they met Sodapop and think he's a really good guy. They hardly see him though because most of the time I'm at his house. I've become really good friends with Pony, Johnny and Two-Bit. Dally and Steve are still growing on me. Darry is kind of like a big brother, but that's only because he's always asking me how school is and if I finished my homework or if there were any at all. And if he knows about an upcoming test, he tells me to study and when I get the test back, he asks what my grade was. The guys have become like family to me.

Pony tells me that he's never seen Soda so happy with a girl. I hope that's true because I know I've never been so happy with a guy. He told me loved me. And I love him too. I can't wait until high school ends to see what life will bring.

* * *

So that was the last of my story. I felt like having her look back on it and just do a bit of a recap at the end, I'd been planning that for a while. If there are any errors, please bear with me because I was writing this from 10-12. No it does not take me that long to write, I was also on msn talking to people =D. I really hope you liked my story, thanks to everyone who have read my story and please take the time to review the last chapter.

Keep on the look out for another Sodapop Story because I have already started the first chapter, so if you're interesting just look at my profile. Thanks so much!


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